Fall 2017 Newsletter

Message from the President

John Dimovski, TMA Detroit Chapter President

I hope everyone has enjoyed our extended summer weather as it won't be long before the leaves are falling, the temperatures start dropping and the holidays sneak up on us.

Our Board has gone through a number of changes over the past year and while some of our great leadership has reached its tenure, our Chapter has been fortunate to add strong new representatives that will continue to drive our success going forward. I am honored to serve as President of the Detroit Chapter of TMA this year. I have served on the Board for 6 years now and have been fortunate enough to do so under the leadership of some the industry's best including Steve Wybo, Paul Hage, Meagan Hardcastle, Scot Lund and most recently Jason Bank. Due to their leadership, the efforts of all the various board and committee members, and the strong support of our sponsors, our Chapter has achieved many major accomplishments for our membership base and is positioned for continued success.

The Board and committee members are at it again and working diligently to provide our members with valuable content for both networking and educational opportunities. Our events calendar this year is filled with exceptional topics, speakers and venues. We started off in style with the annual nextGen Summer Soiree event held at the popular Red Dunn Kitchen in Detroit. Our annual "Fall Kick-Off" event was then held on September 14th at The Birmingham Country Club, where TMA's CEO, Gregory Fine, met with our members to discuss the current state of the TMA and the value our professionals provide to the industry.

The remainder of 2017 is filled with additional events beginning with the Craft Cocktail social event on October 19 at the Detroit City Distillery in the historic Eastern Market followed by the "Pathways to Inclusion" luncheon and panel discussion presented by the Network of Women at the Detroit Golf Club on October 24. We then have a panel discussion on NAFTA related issues on November 2 at Oakland Hills Country Club and our annual Holiday Networking and Charity event on December 6 at the Birmingham Country Club. Our calendar for 2018 is filling up as well so stayed tuned for more entertaining and educational opportunities. I would encourage any interested members to get more involved in our Chapter by reaching out to any of the Board or committee members at these upcoming events.

I would also ask you to please take a moment to review this issue of the Newsletter, including the Member Spotlight section on our Immediate Past President, Jason Bank. Special thanks to Jason and all of his efforts as our President over the past year and the guidance he continues to provide me for the upcoming year.

Finally, I would like to thank all of our sponsors for their continued support of our Chapter. I would also like to thank Sharon Kimble, who not only was named the TMA Chapter Executive of the year, but who is the person that executes many of the important tasks behind the scenes to keep our Chapter operating effectively.

NAFTA: Uncertainty and Changes Ahead?

By John L. Klehm

During the recent Presidential campaign, President Trump made clear his disdain for NAFTA, frequently characterizing it as "America's worst trade deal". Six months into his Presidency, negotiations began to restructure this historic agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada.

Recently, the third round (seven scheduled) of talks between the US, Canada and Mexico wrapped without clear progress. Round four is scheduled to be held in Washington DC from October 11-15 and likely will provide the direction as to the future of North American trade.

Given the importance of NAFTA to the US auto supply chain and the Michigan economy, TMA Detroit will be hosting a panel discussion on NAFTA at Oakland Hills on November 2, during which panelists from Conway MacKenzie, Plante Moran and Dickinson Wright will share their thoughts on exactly how the supply chain has evolved under NAFTA, what it will mean to suppliers if the US gets meaningful changes and how companies can prepare for the uncertainties that appear headed our way.

As a primer for the upcoming panel discussion, below is some background on some of the issues at hand.

What Do Each of the Parties Want?

All NAFTA Parties want modernization in areas such as digital and e-commerce, while US wants to strengthen US rules of origin requirements and strengthen trade enforcement provisions. Canada and Mexico object to these changes and want a deeper North American production platform.

United States

The US demanded the renegotiation and has the longest list of desired changes.

Improve the trade balance in goods. The US has an overall trade deficit with Mexico but a trade surplus in non-automotive goods. The trade deficit in autos and auto parts more than offsets surpluses in other industries.
Strengthen rules of origin. Cheap parts from Asia entering the NAFTA zone in Mexico for processing is a major sticking point. Panelist at the upcoming TMA event Dan Ujczo, Dickinson Wright, was recently quoted in US News and World Report stating "I think the USTR's (United States Trade Representative) chief objective will be to keep Canada and Mexico from being the back door into the North American supply chain".
Modify the methodology to resolve disagreements over trade. Currently, trade disputes in the NAFTA zone are adjudicated via a "Chapter 19 process", a NAFTA resolution mechanism. The U.S. seeks the ability to unilaterally enforce its trade laws, including anti-dumping, countervailing duty and safeguard laws, weakening Chapter 19. Additionally, there is a vigorous debate over NAFTA Chapter 11, an investor-state dispute settlement provision designed to protect investments made in North America but has been used to overturn environmental laws.
Create provisions for the "digital economy". When NAFTA was created, IT and computer services were a much smaller part of the overall economy and aren't adequately addressed given the economy today.

Canada and Mexico

What Canada and Mexico each want is simpler. Canada would like to impose Canada-like labor and environmental standards on the US and Mexico as well as protect dairy and softwood lumber industries. Mexico has the most to lose in opening up NAFTA and would prefer to make few structural changes. On their list, however, is bolstering the Chapter 19 trade dispute resolution mechanism (which the US seeks to weaken) unify agricultural, animal and health safety regulations and forge measures for financial transparency and fighting graft.

Updating a complex trade agreement that is over 20 years old won't be easy. Mexico's economy minister recently said a successful retool of the North American Free Trade Agreement would hinge on two or three complex areas that he called "elephants in the room," the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico and rules of origin. These "elephants" are ground zero for the US auto industry. Please join us on November 2 as we discuss the current state of the auto supply chain, what changes to NAFTA are likely and how that will impact companies and the overall economy in Michigan.

Member Spotlight

by Allison Bach

Jason Bank, Member, Kerr Russell

Before he was a restructuring lawyer, Jason Bank learned to perform in pressure situations while waiting tables at Pizza Hut in Ann Arbor. During one particular weekend, the Michigan High School Athletics Association was holding the state basketball championships at Crisler Arena just down the street from where Jason was waiting tables. The games ended right before supper time. Unfortunately for Jason, the rest of the wait staff scheduled to work that night called in sick or did not show up. As a result, Jason learned quickly to manage and juggle the expectations of a restaurant full of very hungry patrons.

Being able to quickly adapt, manage and juggle are skills that have served Jason well as an insolvency attorney. Today, Jason is the head of the bankruptcy and restructuring practice at Kerr Russell in Detroit where he advises and counsels troubled companies and business owners. Most recently, Jason represented Treetops Resort during their successful Chapter 11 reorganization.

Jason's path to Kerr Russell started shortly after the pizza-palooza in Ann Arbor. At that time, Jason was also working as a freelance journalist for a business publication in Ann Arbor. While Jason had a passion for writing, he didn't think the life of a freelancer (and part-time waiter) was for him. Jason thought about law school. Ever the pragmatist, Jason wanted to get some experience working at a law firm before making the commitment to law school. So he did what many of us did before the advent of the internet - he answered a want ad in the newspaper and landed a job as a runner at Schafer & Weiner.

Jason liked what he saw and started going to law school at night while continuing to work at Schafer & Weiner, first as a runner, then as a law clerk and then as an attorney. During that time, Jason worked closely with Arnie Schafer (along with Dan Weiner, Michael Baum and a host of other fine attorneys) and learned the ins and outs of representing troubled companies in bankruptcies and out-of-court restructurings. Jason said one of his most memorable cases was the Jerome Duncan Ford dealership chapter 11 case in 2005. This was Jason's largest chapter 11 case that he got to "first chair" at the time. He remembers going to bankruptcy court for a major hearing in front of Judge McIvor where he had to address Judge McIvor's questions while simultaneously listening to Arnie "shadow arguing" from the counsel table (Arnie rarely ever acted as second chair and felt compelled to "whisper in Jason's ear" and add his two cents).

In 2008, Jason left Schafer & Weiner and moved to Varnum where he worked with Bob Mollhagen. Thereafter, he moved to Kerr Russell in Detroit to lead its bankruptcy and restructuring practice. Luckily for TMA, Bob introduced Jason to the organization and encouraged him to get involved. And that is exactly what Jason did - he started by attending events, making connections and getting involved. When I asked Jason what he liked best about his time with TMA, Jason said that it was the diversity of professionals that were involved, and the opportunity to network and connect with attorneys, bankers, financial advisors, various types of consultants and business owners. These connections have been invaluable to Jason over the years. Jason has been on the TMA Board since 2012 and served as the President last year.

Jason resides in Canton with his wife of 17 years and two sons. When he is not lawyering, Jason loves to spend time with his family and has enjoyed coaching baseball, attending theater performances, being active in Boy Scouts, and rooting on the Michigan Wolverines (he played in the Michigan Marching Band).

At the next TMA event, make sure to say hello to Jason and ask him his secrets to great pizza or marching and playing music at the same time.

Part of the Crowd at the Kick-Off Event at Birmingham Country Club

From Left to Right: Eric Gronzenski, Chuck Mouranie and Rob McLeod

Members in the News

Doug Brown, Vice President Business Development, ASTI Environmental, recently won the Robert Sieghart Award for Enthusiasm for the Economic Development Profession from the Michigan Economic Developers Association.

Alex Calderone, Manging Director, Calderone Advisory Group, was named to the 2017 Class of 30 in their Thirties by DBusiness Magazine.

Conway MacKenzie was named 1 of 101 Metropolitan Detroit's Best and Brightest Companies to Work for during 2017.

Chris Good Managing Director and Walter Popiel Managing Director, are celebrating their 10th year at Conway MacKenzie.

Ryan Gross, Senior Associate, is a recent hire in the Detroit office of Conway MacKenzie.

On September 5, Lauren Leach, Director and Matt Mason , Managing Director, both with Conway MacKenzie , co-authored an artilce in WWD entitled Think Tank: Adapting to the New Retail Reality.

Walter Popiel Managing Director, Conway MacKenzie, accepted a 40 Under 40 Emerging Leader Award from M&A Advisor.

September 10, Chad Sauter, Director, Conway MacKenzie was quoted in a Newsday article, 22-Year-Old Entrepreneur Looks to Grow Sales of Jamaican Drink.

On September 1, Steve Wybo, Senior Managing Director, Conway MacKenzie, was quoted in Ophthalmology Business, Determining a Practice's Optimal Market Share.

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