What's The Biz -- Oxford, Feb. 2010

8/14/2019 What's The Biz -- Oxford, Feb. 2010

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Whats The Biz -- February 2010 1

BIZBIZWhats theWhats theWhats theWhats theWhats theWhats theWhats theWhats the

February 2010 Vol. 5 # 2

Oxford Areas Monthly Business News & Info

Wiches owner Patrick Hingst cuts the

ceremonial ribbon during the grand opening

of his new downtown Oxford eatery

(40 N. Washington St.), which features

sandwiches, pizza, bagels and soups.

Photo by Andrew Moser


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2 Whats The Biz -- February 2010

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I-75Exit81Please See MARKETING on Page 9

By C.J. Carnacchio

Leader Editor

Guy R. Williams has a plan to market

downtown Oxford, but first he needs to find

out if local business owners are willing to

participate by investing a little time and

money.It has to be grassroots, said Williams,

whos president of Community Marketing

Associates. The business owners have to

come to the conclusion that this makes

sense.

He recently pitched his proposal to DDA

board members Mark Young, Tony Lasher

and Don Sherman along with DDA Promo-

tions Committee member Ed Hunwick and

DDA Director Madonna Van Fossen.

The communities that are presenting

themselves to the whole area, those are the

communities that people are going to read

about, hear about, and check out, he told

them.

As someone whos been helping commu-

nities market themselves since 1997, Williams

Businesses sought formarketing program

Guy R. Williams, president of Community Marketing Associates, pitches his pro-posal to DDA board members Mark Young, Tony Lasher and Don Sherman, alongwith Promotions Committee member Ed Hunwick. Photo by C.J. Carnacchio.

explained his program has two simple goals

1) increase the number of people visiting

Oxford; 2) get as many of those people as

possible to visit at least one business.

If you can bring 10,000 new people into

Oxford and get 20 percent of those people to

visit one business, thats 2,000 visits andthose are low numbers, he said. Oxford is

one of those communities where if you come

once, I guarantee 70-75 percent of the people

are going to come back, but you got to get

them here.

One of the ways to make that happen is

by having local merchants issue press re-

leases regarding whats going on with their

businesses.

Every business has newsworthy items;

they just dont know how to get them out to

the media, Williams said. There are two-

to-three newsworthy things happening at

every business throughout the year.

Muliply that by a hundred businesses,

now youre talking somewhere between 100

and 300 newsworthy stories, and 95 percent


3/12


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Most investors pay a great deal of attentionto the price of their investments yesterdaysprice, todays price, tomorrows price, next yearsprice and so on. And thats understandable,because we always want the prices of our in-vestments to rise. Yet, if youfocus too much on prices,you could end up makingsome costly mistakes.

Why? Because price-driven behavior is emotional behavior and as an in-vestor, youre much betteroff making decisions withyour head, not your heart.Suppose, for example, thatyouve seen a steep declinein the price of one of yourinvestments. After a while,you may feel that you justcant take it anymore and you decide to cutyour losses by selling the investment. Con-versely, you may have an investment that hasgone up and up and to grab even biggergains, you buy more shares.

Both these decisions could backfire onyou. When you sold the investment whoseprice had fallen, you might find yourself onthe investment sidelines if that same in-vestment starts to turn around. And whenyou throw more money at an investmentwhose price has skyrocketed, youre bettingagainst history because no investmentgoes up forever. Furthermore, in both cases,your emotions will have led you to violateone of the guidelines of investing buy lowand sell high.

But apart from the tactical errors you maymake when you over-concentrate on pricemovements, youre also ignoring another keycharacteristic of investments their value.

Traditionally, an investments value hasbeen largely defined as whether or not itsconsidered expensive or cheap. Thatswhy many investors take a close look at astocks price-to-earnings ratio (P/E). Gener-ally speaking, a high P/E means a stock ismore expensive, relative to its earnings, than

a stock with a low P/E. Investors may be will-ing to pay more for the high P/E stocks be-cause they feel these companies will be worthmore in the future.

But P/E doesnt tell the whole story of in-vestment value. Any individual investment mayhave value to you because it can help you di-versify your holdings. And while diversifica-tion, by itself, cant guarantee a profit or pro-tect against a loss, it can help you reduce theeffects of volatility on your portfolio. For in-stance, if your portfolio is heavy with stocks,the presence of some bonds even thosewhose market price has fallen because interestrates have risen can help reduce the impactof a downturn that primarily affects stocks.

Clearly, the value of any investment hasseveral dimensions any or all of whichmay be valuable to you as your pursue yourgoals. So, as you build, maintain and adjust

your portfolio over time, keep an eye on thechanging prices of your investments butdont overlook their true value.

When evaluatinginvestments look atvalue not just price

Between work, school, soccer practices,play-dates and all the other demands put onparents these days the last thing you wantto spend your time or attention on is think-

ing about what would hap-

pen to your dependents ifsomething should happento you or your spouse.However, advanced plan-ning may be one of themost important things youever do for your family.Here are just some of themany different reasonsyoung families need estateplanning services:

To designate who will manage your af-fairs in the event of a disability and afterdeath.

To make sure assets actually pass ac-cording to your wishes.

To appoint a Guardianfor your minor children.

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To avoid disputes overthe division of family heir-looms or other personal property.

To accomplish any charitable bequeaths.Estate planning need not be dreaded! Call

our office and set up a free assessment ofyour estate and we will show you how simpleand affordable the process can be!

Phillip B. Maxwell & Associates PLLC248-969-1490

20 Hudson Street, Oxford

The Coldwell Banker Real Estate affili-ated company located at 200 E. GeneseeRd in Lapeer will now be known asColdwell Banker Professionals.

Coldwell Banker Professionals hasthirty-six sales associates. The firm spe-cializes in Residential, Foreclosure, andCommercial real estate services. Betweenits two locations, Coldwell Banker Profes-sionals services over seven counties(Lapeer, Oakland, Genesee, Macomb, St.Clair, Sanilac, and Tuscola) stretched outacross Southeast Michigan.

Coldwell Banker Professionals can bereached at (810-664-8524).

Real estate officechanges name


4/12

Sit Down

DiningAmerican Legion Post 108

130 E. Drahner Rd.Oxford, 248-628-9081

Big Boy - Oxford955 S. Lapeer Rd.,

Oxford, 248-628-3841

Honey Tree Grille & Coney978 N. Lapeer Rd.,

Oxford, 248-236-4161Kens Coney Island212 S. Washington St.

Oxford, 248-969-3665

Lakeville Inn1318 Rochester Rd.Lakeville, 248-628-4460

Louies Food & Spirit600 Lakeville Rd.,

Lakeville, 248-628-2440

(The) Nugget1055 S. Lapeer Rd

Oxford, 248-628-2503Ox Bar and Grill

22 S. Washington St.

248-628-1400Oxford Hills Golf Club

(Seasonal)300 E. Drahner Rd.

Oxford, 248-628-2518Oxford Tap

5 S. Washington St.Oxford, 248-236-0380

Red Knapps American Grill2 N. Washington St.,

Oxford, 248-628-1200

24th Street Tavern13 S. Washington StOxford, 248-628-1217

Tamis Grill1386 S. Lapeer Rd.

Oxford, 248-236-0900Victorias Delights12 S. Washington St.

Oxford, 248-969-3477

EthnicCasa Real (Mexican)21 S. Washington St.,

Oxford, 248-969-2801

Golden Dragon (Chinese)

Out For LunchWTBs

Restaurant managers-- call us if you would like to

have a menu item featured!248-628-4801

32 S. Washington St.,Oxford, 248-628-9800

Italia Gardens (Italian)1076 S. Lapeer Rd.,

Oxford, 248-628-4112

Thai Cuisine (Thai)180 S. Washington St.Oxford, 248-236-9205

Coney JointCountry Coney

1040 S. Lapeer Rd.,Oxford, 248-628-7712

Honey Tree Grille & Coney

978 N. Lapeer Rd.248-236-4161

Pizza PlaceCottage Inn Pizza51 S. Washington St.

Oxford, 248-628-9500Fattys Pizza

40 N. Washington St.

Oxford, 248-628-4471Guidos Premium Pizza


Isolas Pizzeria & Restaurant80 N. Rochester Rd.

Addison Twp., 586-752-3585

Jets Pizza204 S. Washington St.Oxford, 248-969-5387Little Caesars Pizza

89 W. Burdick St.,

Oxford, 248-628-6302

Fast FoodBurger King

583 S. Lapeer Rd.

Oxford, 248-628-3636Dairy Queen

Oxford, 248-628-3690

McDonalds280 N. Washington St.Oxford, 248-628-2780

Subway Sandwiches95 W. Burdick St.

Oxford, 248-969-6920Uncle Boombas Mr. Pita/

Dairy Queen


GoodEats


Mary Forte

I love good Chinese food, but Ihave not always lived where I had ac-cess to it. So, over the years, I devel-oped my own recipes, and filled themwith the ingredients that suite thetastes of my family.

3 Tablespoons canola oil2 (1 inch thick) pork loin

chops; cut into strips inchwide by 3 inches long

3 cups thinly sliced cel-ery

1 cup thinly sliced onion pound mushrooms;

washed, stemmed and

thinly sliced1 pound fresh mung bean sprouts

1 (5 ounce) can sliced water chestnuts;drained

3 Tablespoons cornstarch cup cold water cup soy sauce

1 cup beef brothCook pork in large pan or wok, over

medium-high heat, in 1 Tablespoon ofthe oil for about 5 minutes. Or, until nolonger pink. Remove the pork from thepan. Place remaining 2 Tablespoons ofoil in the pan. Cook the celery, onions,and mushrooms about 3 minutes. Theyshould still be firm to the bite. Add beansprouts, water chestnuts and the

cooked pork. Heat through. In a sepa-rate bowl, mix cornstarch, water, soy sauce

and broth. Stir well and add to the pan. Cookand stir until thick and bubbly.

Serves 6You Be The ChefServe with brown or white rice.Add teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

to the oil when cooking the pork.To each plate add finely chopped lettuce

and place chow mien on top.Make with tofu, beef, chicken or shrimp

in place of the pork. Adjust the cookingtimes.

Place on the table in small bowls:chopped fresh cilantro, crisp rice

noodles, chow mien noodles, chopped scal-

lionsMary Forte is an Oxford Village Resident.

Dont order out make your own Pork Chow Mein

By Andrew MoserWhen customers step inside Honey

Tree Grille & Coney (978 N. Lapeer Rd.),

they are going to see a new smiling facegreeting them.

Pat Risk recently took over as man-ager of the restaurant, and she is bringher 25 years of experience at full andquick service restaurants to the peopleof Oxford.

At one point she was managing 74Burger Kings, she said.

In addition to her warm smiles andupbeat personality, she is bringing somenew additions to an already packedmenu that includes the American staplesof burgers, fries and coneys.

She is also in the process of testingout some new recipes that are createdin the back by their two cooks.

According to Risk, when the cooks

come up with something new, they gether to try it, and if she likes it, she addsto their daily special menu.

Honey Tree also offers an assortmentof sandwiches, soups, wraps and din-ner entrees.

There is also plenty of Greek delica-cies offered on the menu. One of theirhouse specialities is the Moussaka,which features layers of eggplant,choice ground meat, parmesan cheesemixed together with a bechamel sauce.

The menu also offers a limited selec-tion of pasta and seafood options.

All the items on the menu are avail-able for dine-in or takeout.

Honey Tree offers specials for break-

Honey Tree Waitress Brandie Bailey, Manager Pat Risk and Waitress Stephanie Parker.

Honey Tree offers morethan just coney dogs

fast, lunch and dinner specials everyday, andsenior discounts are available.

In addition to the exciting new menu op-tions, Risk is currently installing wirelessinternet to the restaurant.

She added that she wanted to start havinglocal church and school fund-raisers at the

restaurant. For more information about fund-raising efforts at Honey Tree, call Pat at (248)236-4161.

Honey Tree Grille & Coney (located rightby Meijer) is open Sunday through Thursdayfrom 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturdayfrom 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.


5/12

White Horse Inn celebrates 160 years

By C.J. Carnacchio

Biz Editor

Its estimated that the average lifespan of

a restaurant in the United States is five years.

Of course, there are always exceptions,but none so exceptional as the Historic White

Horse Inn in downtown Metamora.

The restaurant is celebrating its 160th year

in business and its status as the oldest res-

taurant in Michigan.

Its a humbling thing when you stop and

think of the amount of time, the number of

patrons and the connection to the commu-

nity this place has, said owner and chef Tim

Wilkins, a 13-year resident of Addison Town-

ship. Its not just a building for some people,

its a part of their lives. Youre all of a sudden

entrusted with this jewel of theirs. Theres

deep connections to various events that hap-

pened here 50, 60, 70 years ago.

Originally, the building functioned as a

general store until Lorenzo Hoard purchasedit in 1850 and turned into the Hoard House,

a restaurant and inn charging a mere 50

cents to overnight guests.

Apparently, Hoard, who died in 1888, is

himself a guest at the White Horse these days

as some claim his ghost still roams the estab-

lishment. Probably just keeping an eye on

his investment.

During the Prohibition Era, the name was

changed to the White Horse Inn and over

the years, the establishments changed own-

ers many times until Wilkins and his wife Lisa

purchased it in 2001.

Wilkins, who has more than 30 years ex-

perience in the restaurant business, bought

the place for two reasons.One, it was always a goal of his to own a

restaurant by the time he turned 40.

I signed the deal to close on this place

on my 40th birthday, Wilkins said.

The other reason was the chance to own

a unique building, rich in local history in-

cluding being a stop on the Underground

Railroad for runaway slaves.

I couldnt find the character of this build-

ing anywhere else, Wilkins said. Theres

not another one in the country that looks like

this, thats been running this long, that could

still grow. People were walking around these

floors 160 years ago. Thats amazing. You

dont see that all the time.

But just because its an historic building and

business, dont for a second think its treatedlike a stuffy museum. We try to keep it alive

and vibrant every day, Wilkins said. We en-

joy what we do. We have a lot of fun with it.

From its horse-drawn sleigh rides in thewinter to its classic car cruises in the sum-

mer, no one can accuse the White Horse of

being a stodgy place.

Over the last nine years, Wilkins has trans-

formed the White Horse into a successful

country inn dinner house thats not only a

local, but a regional attraction.

We draw customers from across five or

six counties, he said. We had a good year

last year and we saw customers coming back,

snapping out of their (economic) funk.

The secret to the White Horses success

is really no secret at all. Wilkins simply en-

sures the quality of his establishments food

and service remain high and that his menu

keeps up with changing customer tastes.

The average customers gotten a lot more

savvy, he explained. They know what they

want and they know what theyre willing to

pay for it. They dont mind paying for qual-

ity, but they also want value. Youve reallygot to exceed their expectations every time,

especially when the economys taken a hit.

Wilkins works very hard to keep most of

his dinner menu under $20 and offer a little

bit more variety than your average restaurant

without being too fancy or too formal.

Weve tried to create a user-friendly restau-

rant thats comfortable and casual, he noted.

His philosophy of serving only quality

food is exemplified by the White Horses sig-

nature dish its High Street scallops.

It became our signature item very fast

and its stayed that way since the beginning,

he said. Its still one of our top five sellers

every week for almost 10 years now.

Over the years, scallops have gotten ex-

pensive and hard to buy, so many restau-

rants have dropped them from their menus.

But the White Horse keeps getting ship-

ments of top of the line scallops fresh, never

frozen from its supplier off the East Coast.Prepared simply with a little bit of salt and

pepper, then served medium rare with a lemon

butter sauce, Wilkins only needs two words

to describe his scallops good stuff.

But its not just the amazing food that

keeps people coming back to the White Horse

again and again; its the ambiance.

The restaurant offers two different dining

rooms one with a casual feel, the other with

a warmer, upscale feel.

Very few places can offer two atmo-

spheres in one building, Wilkins noted.

So, what does the future hold for the His-

toric White Horse Inn? Wilkins sees only

good things on the horizon.

I think the White Horse is primed per-

fectly to continue on, he said. Were opti-mistic.

Downtown Metamora eateryenjoys status as Michigansoldest restaurant

Addison resident Tim Wilkins has owned theHistoric White Horse Inn in Metamora since 2001.Hes also the chef. Photo by C.J. Carnacchio.


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Once again, Oxford proved how generous and compas-

sionate it can be through the Downtown Development

Authoritys Giving Trees program that ran throughout the

holiday season from Nov. 27 to Dec. 31.

Donors contributed approximately $895 and 650 nonper-

ishable food items to nine local charitable organizations that

do everything from feeding the hungry and assisting at-risk

youth to helping senior citizens and giving refuge to abused

women and children.

A total of 54 businesses within the DDA district partici-pated in the program, which encouraged shoppers to donate

at least $10 or 10 nonperishable food items wherever a Giv-

ing Tree was erected.

Living up to their motto We Work, members of the Ox-

ford High School varsity boys basketball team went around

to businesses Saturday collecting the donations and trees.

According to Michael Johnson, the DDAs events coor-

dinator, the money will be split evenly among seven of the

charities, while the food items will be divided between Ox-

ford/Orion FISH and Meals on Wheels.

Nonprofits receiving money include Banbury Cross,

Crossroads for Youth, HAVEN, Love INC, Orion/Oxford Boys

and Girls Club, Problem Pregnancy Center and Oxford-

Addison Youth Assistance.

As part of the Giving Tree program, donors got to enter

a random drawing for a $500 prize to be spent at businesses

located in the DDA district.

Of the 130 entries, longtime Oxford resident Sharon Weir

was lucky enough to have her name drawn Monday.

Im very excited, she said.

Weir is not yet sure exactly how shes going to spend all

that money.

They said theyd give me a few days to think about it,

she said. I know theyve got some new places to eat down

there and Im curious about those.

The two downtown spots she spends the most time at are

ReGina Paul Salons and Curves. In fact, the salon is where

she entered the contest by donating some food.

I really want to thank the receptionist at ReGina Paul

who told me about it, Weir said. Biz Editor C.J. Carnacchio

DDAs Giving Tree program benefits charities

By C.J. Carnacchio

Biz EditorAn Oxford-based company recently received a signifi-

cant infusion of cash and is expecting to more-than-doubleits workforce by the end of the year.

Relume Technologies (925 N. Lapeer Rd.), a leading manu-facturer of light-emitting diode (LED) products for outdoorlighting, recently received an investment of at least $1 mil-lion with the potential of more to come later from

InvestMichigan, a $300 million program capitalized by thestates retirement system.

The purpose of the investment is to accelerate productdevelopment and our manufacturing capacity, said RelumeChief Executive Officer Michael McClear. Were expect-ing very big things in 2010 . . . Were expecting significantgrowth.

That could translate into more jobs for Oxford area resi-dents as Relume looks to expand its workforce, which cur-rently consists of about 50 employees.

Obviously, you dont know whats going to happenand its still very early in the new year, but were expectingto add approximately 75 (new employees) this year andmaybe as many as 100 next year, if things go according toplan, McClear said.

McClear said most of the jobs will be production staff-related, however, there will be some mid-level and uppermanagement openings such as managers to oversee qual-

ity, purchasing and engineering.The investment will enable Relume to ramp up the pro-

LED company gets big financial boostduction and marketing of its LED street light technology.

I would say were solely focused on street and arealighting, which would include parking lots, parking struc-tures, streets and roadways, McClear said.

The Farmington Hills-based Beringea LLC, the stateslargest venture capital firm, made the investment. Beringeamanages $75 million of the $150 million Michigan GrowthCapital Fund, which is half of the Exactly howInvestMichigan fund.

The Growth Capital Fund is an initiative focused onretaining and attracting growing companies to the state.Were really excited about the support were gettingthrough the State of Michigan, McClear said.

Exactly how much money Beringea put into Relume isnot being released to the public.

Beringea has asked us specifically not to disclose whatthe investment amount was. But it was more than $1 mil-lion, McClear said.

However, Relumes CEO noted Beringea doesnt investin just any company.

They looked at nearly 500 companies over the last twoyears. And have only invested in less than a dozen,McClear said. Its a huge endorsement of our businessmodel, what were trying to achieve and the fact that wereviewed as one of the premiere LED lighting companies inMichigan and throughout the U.S.

Were really proud of what weve been doing here and

what were doing with Beringea, he noted.Please See RELUME on Page 8

Debra Meyers (far left), co-owner of the Sweet & Savory BakeShop, takes a poster from OHS hoopsters (from left) T.J. Bearse,Ken Coffman and Josh Bell. Photos by C.J. Carnacchio.

Counting up the donated food items are Mark Hazelwood,Matt Versteeg, Tyler Rose, Kevin Cramer and Gary Wurtz.


7/12


If you didnt read lastIf you didnt read lastIf you didnt read lastIf you didnt read lastIf you didnt read last

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$30 in Oakland Countyoxfordleader.com or call 248-628-4801

By C.J. Carnacchio

Biz Editor

It seems one of Oxford Townships New

Years resolutions is to be much more proac-

tive when it comes to attracting new busi-

nesses and stimulating the local economy.

To that end, the townships newly-formed

Economic Development Subcommittee held

its kickoff meeting Jan. 7 at Oxford Veterans

Memorial Civic Center.

Its really kind of a think tank, explained

township Trustee Mike Spisz, who sits on

the subcommittee along with planning com-

missioners Todd Bell and Jack Curtis. What

can we do as a community to help boost the

economy in our area? What options can we

put on the table to take to the township

board?

Ultimately, the subcommittee is a recom-

mending body with no authority to imple-

ment any plans, but Spisz said its important

to have an entity like this generating and pro-

posing ideas.

We see other communities doing stuffand Oxford really hasnt done anything from

what I see, he said.

Instead of waiting for outside forces to

shape the towns economic landscape, Spisz

believes its time for Oxford to control its own

destiny and start making things happen.

My big push is to get the ball rolling, he

said. Lets put some things on paper. Lets

start putting a plan together and see where

we can go.

With good schools and an active parks

and recreation department, Spisz indicated

the township already has what people look

for in a community. The issue is effectively

Committee seeks ways tojump-start local economy

communicating this to draw folks here.

Oxford is a good place to do business

in, he said. How do you advertise that to

people? How do you educate people about

Oxford to bring them in?

The subcommittees also going to exam-

ine what can be done to help existing busi-

nesses keep their doors open and local people

employed.

How many businesses do we keep los-

ing on a regular basis? Spisz said. Of

course, we cant change the economy, but

what can we do as a community to help these

places?

Once the subcommittee has some direc-

tion, others in the community, both citizens

and business leaders, will be invited to par-

ticipate and give their input.

Well probably ask other people for help

because theres no way the three of us can

do it all ourselves, Spisz said.

The subcommittee plans to meet on the

first Thursday of the month.

By C.J. CarnacchioBiz Editor

It was a case of reality television meetsEconomics 101 as groups of Oxford El-ementary fifth-graders got tossed into theinfamous Shark Tank last week.

No students were eaten alive, but theyall learned valuable lessons about whatworks and what doesnt when it comes tostarting their own businesses.

Using a modified version of the ABCtelevision show Shark Tank, Oxford HighSchool senior Sarah Ricketts and sopho-more Sara Ruch, both of whom are mem-bers of the DECA Club, had groups of fifth-graders come up with ideas for businesses,then present them to a panel of judges.

For those not familiar with the reality

show Shark Tank, which premiered inAugust 2009, it features five multimillion-aire business tycoons (affectionatelyknown as the Sharks) who hear invest-ment proposals from entrepreneurs andconsider whether to invest in the busi-nesses.

Ricketts and Ruch decided to use thereality show as a fun and inventive way topromote entrepreneurship to the fifth-grad-ers and teach them exactly what it takes tobuild a business from the ground up. Onthe flip side, students also learned thatbeing an entrepreneur isnt for everyone.

For the project, the student groups hadto write a description of their business in-cluding a list of products and services; dobackground research on the leaders in their

industry; design the layout of their build-ing; create a newspaper advertisement; and

determine who their target market is (i.e.the age/gender of their potential custom-ers).

The fifth-graders also had to pick a lo-cation for their business and conduct aSWOT analysis of that spot. For those notfamiliar with business lingo, SWOT standsfor strengths, weaknesses, opportunitiesand threats.

For about a month, Ricketts and Ruchvisited the fifth-graders once a week toguide them along and check on theirprogress.

We taught them all the concepts of whatit takes to be an entrepreneur, Ruch said.

We were surprised they were so ex-cited about doing this with us, Rickettssaid.

Last week, the students presented their business ideas and plans to a panel ofjudges that consisted of Suzanne Ardelan,owner of Curves, a gym for ladies in down-town Oxford; Bill Keenist, senior vice presi-dent of communications for the Detroit Li-ons, and Madonna Van Fossen andMichael Johnson, employees of the OxfordDowntown Development Authority.

Ashley Prusa and Keaton Gibersonwere selected as the overall winners fortheir business Pages, a book store thatallows customers to not only purchasematerials, but also check them out for freelike at a library.

For their efforts, the winners each re-ceived a $10 gift certificate to the Oxford 7.

All of the students who participated in

the DECA project were rewarded with aShark Tank T-shirt and a chocolate bar.

Shark Tank teaches OESstudents about entrepreneurship

OES fifth-graders Ethan Cutler (left)and Rachel Kady make a presentation

for their business Cookies andCakes. Behind them areOHS DECA Club students

Sara Ruch (left) and

Sarah Ricketts.

www.oxfordleader.com


8/12


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McClear indicated big things are on thehorizon for Relume as more and more munici-palities are examining the benefits of LEDstreet lighting, which is much more energy-efficient, cost-effective, longer-lasting andenvironmentally-friendly than traditionallighting.

We have our products in evaluation inprobably over 150 cities throughout NorthAmerica, he said.

In Mexico City, for example, Relume is

working hard to obtain a 20,000-light orderfor an LED pilot program. If the company getsit and all goes well, it could lead to a largerorder of more than 300,000 lights.

It could potentially be a huge opportu-nity for us, McClear said. We just deliv-ered 10 lamps to Mexico City for evaluation.

One of the factors helping fuel U.S. com-munities interest in LED street lighting is thefederal Energy Efficiency and ConservationBlock Grant (EECBG) program, which is pro-viding grants to states and local govern-ments to fund projects that reduce energyuse and fossil fuel emissions, and improveenergy efficiency.

The most popular energy conservationmeasure under that program is LED streetlighting, McClear said.

As part of the American Reinvestment andRecovery Act (of 2009), Congress appropri-

ated $3.2 billion for the EECBG program, ofwhich Michigan was allocated $76.6 million.

This grant money is helping make the in-vestment in LED lighting more economicallyfeasible for communities.

McClear explained that the initial cost ofconverting to LED street lights is more thantraditional lighting and thats always been abig hurdle for municipalities.

The stimulus money is helping to break downthat barrier, he said. As the faucet of the stimu-lus money starts to open up, were really start-ing to gear up for big things this year.

Even Oxford has got in on the act as thetownship applied for $90,000 in EECBG mon-ies to replace the villages 78 metal halidedecorative street lights along Washingtonand Burdick streets with LED fixtures con-trolled by radio frequency signals.

McClear noted it also helps that as tech-nology continues to improve, the cost of LEDstreet lights is dropping.

For example, the same light that wouldhave cost $1,500 say 18 months ago is goingto cost $600 now, he explained. The cost ofLED lighting is going down dramatically.

RelumeContinued from Page 6

Lisa DeCampos, founder of Ella Fashion.

How about a new look for 2010 and spe-

cial for Valentines Day.

The New Year calls for a new look and

fashion trends.

Ella Fashion has unique and original

pieces for your Valentines Day outfit,

whether it is dressy or casual.

We have options going from classicdressy blouses to casual and comfortable

dresses with a touch of glitz or even formal

gowns.

Whatever your plans for your night are,

Ella Fashion is your New Years ticket to

become elegant and confident.

Ella Fashion also carries different

comfy sweaters, hats, scarves, handbags,

leggings, shawls and an array of funky

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ion diva.

If you are the giver type, we can also

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Stop by at Ella Fashion for a refreshing

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9/12


436 S. Broadway (M-24) , Suite C Lake Orion

Licensed Broker Chairperson of County Bar R.E. Comm

Member American & State Bar R.E. Sections

James R. Porritt, Jr.

248-693-6245

30 Years Real Estate Experience

ATTORNEY

For Sale By Owner

TRANSACTION Advice, preparation of Purchase Agreement,

Mandatory Disclosures & related documents. Coordination of financing, inspections, surveys,

appraisals, title work & closing

Cash To New Mortgage Transaction 1/2of 1%

Seller Financed Sales 1%

SIMPLE WILLS FreeInitialConsulta

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Self directed disposition of assets Your choice of administrator

Your choice of Guardian for minors Your choice of Trust for minors to be set up after your passing.

Avoiding Probatedoes not justify the cost or inconvenience of setting up a Living Trust and maintaining it for therest of your l ife. Michigans unsupervised probate procedure is inexpensive, uses preprinted forms, avoids formalaccountings, court appearances, or approval of asset disposition.

Short SalesProcedures & Negotiations

If You Must Sell Your Home

And Cannot Without A

Reduction In Your Mortgage

Balance, Call For An

Appointment.(Land contracts, private mortgages, lease with option)

MarketingContinued from Page 2

of them are missed. Thats heartbreaking.

Under Williams program, press releases

would be handled by a public relations co-

ordinator (or PRC for short).

This PRC would be journalism or market-

ing college student who would work 20

hours a week for Williams company. This

person would spend a good deal of time vis-

iting local businesses, looking for newswor-

thy items and marketing opportunities.

What I look for is somebody that knows

that community, he said. A college student

from Oxford would be perfect.

After finding some news items, the PRC

writes press releases, which are reviewed and

approved by the businesses, then issued

by Williams company.

The press releases are key. Youve got to

do that, he said. The one thing I know about

the media is if its newsworthy, theyll cover

it.

Having a vehicle like The Oxford Leader

to spread the word is a big plus in Williams

opinion.

One of the things that interested me

about Oxford is you guys have a local news-

paper, he said. Thats huge. Thats a greatadvantage.

But press releases alone arent enough.

Williams indicated they must be coupled with

advertising, which reminds people of the story

later on.

You need an advertising budget, he said.

The people who say advertising doesnt

work, its just not true. We have thousands of

years of proof that it does work, but you have

to do it the right way.

In order to properly advertise the commu-

nity and bring people here, Williams said two

things are needed.

The first is eight great community events

designed to draw people to the town through-

out the year.

The second thing is a $120,000 advertis-

ing budget to promote these events.

The idea is to get people to visit for the

first time, Williams said.

Each event would have a $15,000 promo-

tion budget that would be spent on advertis-

ing through the newspaper, radio, television

and internet.

Every community I know has great

events, Williams said. The problem is they

never have budget to promote them and pro-

motion is what brings more people.

The money for this advertising budget

would come from a mix of local businesses

and corporate sponsors.

To make it work, Williams said he wouldneed 100 local businesses each contributing

$50 per month (or $600 a year) toward the

advertising budget.

Were just not talking about a whole lot

of money, he said. I dont care what busi-

ness youre in, you can afford $600 a year.

Usually, when a business spends $600 a year

theyre not getting anything thats going to

make a difference, according to Williams.

Having the businesses pool their money

into a larger budget makes each contribution

much more effective.

Every single business benefits from a

community advertising budget, said Will-

iams, noting all the participants would receive

a copy of the 12-month advertising plan to

review and discuss.

The other $60,000 for the advertising bud-

get would come from corporate sponsors

obtained by Williams.

In addition to public relations and adver-

tising, Williams program would also help cre-

ate customer surveys designed to generate

consumer profiles.

I want to find out exactly whos visiting

Oxford, where theyre coming from and what

they think is missing in Oxford, he said.

Well share that information with busi-

nesses.

Williams would work with eight to 15 busi-

ness owners to come with the perfect 10-12

questions for customers to answer on a cardwhen they visit a store.

Because communication is essential to

Williams program, if Oxford were to partici-

pate, the business owners would be asked

to spend five minutes a month reading an e-

mail from him designed to update them on

everything thats going on with regard to

upcoming events and other businesses.

The biggest thing is youve got to com-

municate, he said.

But before he approaches the DDA about

participating and paying his $45,000 fee

(which doesnt include the 15 percent of the

advertising budget his company would re-

ceive for creative services), Williams indi-

cated he needs to know at least 25 businesses

are interested in participating.

Once the initial 25 businesses and the

DDA are on board, then he can begin recruit-

ing the other 75 businesses.

Without business participation, the pro-

gram doesnt work, Williams said. I think

everybody in the community, all the stake-

holders, have to participate in marketing. It

only makes sense.

He said the program cant be a govern-

ment-led thing, or even viewed as such, be-

cause that carries a stigma with most busi-

ness owners.

Almost every business has a story of

the horrible thing the (municipality) did to

me, Williams said.

Tenants of foreclosedproperties have rights

When a landlord defaults on the install-

ment payments of a rental property, the

lender may foreclose on

its mortgage and, at the

expiration of the redemp-

tion period, claim posses-sion of the property.

Tenants of the prop-

erty may of may not be

aware of the foreclosure

proceedings and sud-

denly find themselves

facing eviction from their

home despite having kept

current on their rents.

In 2009, federal legislation was enacted

to provide protection to tenants in those

instances where the mortgage is govern-

ment sponsored.

The foreclosure sale purchasers of

such properties are required to give the

tenants a minimum of 90 days notice to

vacate. The previous notice requirementwas 30 days.

The tenants are then still entitled to

the protections of due process provided

by Michigans summary proceedings for

possession.

Tenants of foreclosed properties may

find themselves being threatened with ex-

pulsion by agents of the lender or foreclo-

sure sale purchaser.

They should be aware of the legal pro-

tections available.

Attorney JamesR. Porritt, Jr.

GROW your business! TELL the community why youre thebest! RESERVE your spot in The Oxford Leaders annual busi-

ness review. PROGRESS 2010 is a great way to jumpstartthis years marketing plan. Call Eric Lewis at (248) 628-4801.


10/12


Presented by Loran S. Coffman CPhD, RFC

Loran S. Coffman, CPhD, RFC

WPS-Investments Inc.Stone Pine Complex

189 W. Clarkston Rd.

Lake Orion, MI 48362

248-693-5599www.WPSinvestments.com

Vicky Winkler,owner of TheMarketingShop, Oxford.

As weve seen in this economy, it cantjust be business as usual. Every marketingdollar needs to be put to the BEST pos-sible use. Heres how you can decide whereeach dollar goes

Track and Analyze Past Cus-tomers

Take a good, hard look at yourcustomer data. Analyze the follow-ing aspects:

How did they hear about you? What did they buy? How much did they spend?

What criteria describe them?In the end, youll have a pic-ture of your best customers andyoull know how best to find them.Whatever you find brings in the best leads and customers, figureout how to expand that action. Ifyou do not have a system in placeto collect and track this data,make that your number one mar-keting priority this year!

Strengthen Repeat BusinessAfter youve done the above analysis,

you should have a list of your customerswith the best ones being at the top. Oftentimes you can get more return generatingrepeat business than you will from market-ing for new customers. Think about whatyou know about your past customers:

Are interested in your product or service.

Know who you are and have trustedyou in the past.

You have a method to follow up withthem to increase effectiveness.

Direct mail (or email) marketing cam-paigns are very effective to reactivate pastcustomers a postcard, newsletter, letter,

flyer, etc. A campaign means morethan a one-time shot you need tocontinually keep in contact withyour database.

Getting New BusinessWhile you will get a great re-

sponse from marketing to your pastcustomers, it is not enough to keep

you growing. In tough times, manyof your customers are going to goby the wayside, regardless of howwell you service them. You need tohave a constant stream of new leadscoming in to replace those custom-ers that fall off. This is where thatcustomer analysis comes in handy.Wherever you found your bestcustomers in the past, you need to

do more of it in the future.It is important to have both of the above

campaigns happening simultaneously keeping past customers coming back andgenerating brand new ones. Make a planNOW, and stick with it! I think 2010 is go-ing to be a turnaround year, and businessesthat plan for how they will spend their mar-keting dollars will benefit the most.

Vicky Winkler can be reached at (248)

814-0794 or via e-mail [email protected].

Making the best use of your marketing dollars

Loran S. CoffmanWPS Investments

You may think of life insurance in verysimple terms: you buy a policy so that yourloved ones will have some financial assis-tance when you die.

But if you have assets of$1 million or more, you shouldview life insurance as a tool kind of a Swiss army knife, infact.

Life insurance has many potential uses in estate plan-ning, and a life insurance trustcan certainly help a family.

What does a life insurancetrust do? It enables you andyour family to do three thingsin particular.

One, it provides you, yourspouse and your heirs with lifeinsurance coverage after it isimplemented.

Two, it allows a trustee to distribute deathbenefits from a life insurance policy as thattrustee sees fit.

Three, it gives you the chance to re-

duce your estate taxes.When you create a life insurance trust,you are creating an entity (the trust) to buy

Life insurance trusts: an estate planningoption more families should know about

life insurance policies for you and your lovedones.

You dont own the policies, the trustdoes. So the insurance proceeds go into the

trust when someone passesaway. Because the trust ownsthe insurance policies instead ofa person, the insurance pro-ceeds arent subject to probate,income taxes or estate taxes.

The trustee can distributethose proceeds to one or moreparties as stipulated in the lan-guage of the trust.

Also, if your estate ends upreally large, the trust can buyadditional life insurance to pro-vide additional cash to pay ad-ditional estate taxes.

Sometimes these trusts es-tablish investment policies for life insurance proceeds, and even timelines for who re-ceives what when (families may want to de-lay an heir from legally receiving an inherit-ance until age 18 or 21, for example).

Why not just have someone else own myinsurance policy? That scenario can lead tomajor financial and familial headaches. If that

person dies before you die, the cash value ofthe policy will be included in their taxableestate. So the heirs (and relatives) of thatperson will have higher estate taxes to payas a result. Also, if you do this, you surren-der control of your policy; the loved one youtrust could end up naming another benefi-ciary or even cashing your policy out.

A decision for life.Almost all life insur-ance trusts are irrevocable trusts. That is,they are legally set in stone once created,unlike a revocable trust which can be amendedor revoked after creation.

You can make these trusts revocable, butif you do, you lose the tax benefit: the insur-ance proceeds will be included in your tax-able estate when you die, which could in-crease the estate tax bill for your heirs.

However, some irrevocable life insurancetrusts purchase survivorship life insurancein a profit sharing plan to permit the ability tochange beneficiaries.

If youd like to know more about life in-surance trusts or the potentially significantchanges in estate taxes over the next few

years, talk to a qualified legal, financial orinsurance professional today.Loran S. Coffman representativename

is a Representative with H. Beck, Inc. andmay be reached on the web atwww.WPSinvestments.com, by phone (248)693-5599, or by [email protected]. See TheScience of Financial Health, Coffmans

exclusive weekly financial column on theweb every Wednesday atwww.LakeOrionReview.com.

These views are those of the authorand should not be construed as investment,tax or legal advice. Past performance is noguarantee of future results. All informationis believed to be from reliable sources; how-ever we make no representation as to itscompleteness or accuracy. Please consultyour Investment, Tax and/or Legal Advi-sor for further information and advice aboutapplication to your specific circumstances.Researched and authored by Loran S.Coffman & Peter Montoya, Incorporated.

Securities offered through H. Beck, Inc.Member FINRA, SIPC. Investment advisoryservices offered through M.R.Spencer Ad-visory Services, LLC. WPS-Investments,

Inc. is unaffiliated with H. Beck, Inc. Branchaddress of WPS is 189 W. Clarkston Rd.,Bldg. A, Lake Orion, MI 48362


11/12


Carolyn Chevrier ispresident of LakesCommunity CreditUnion.

Is the economyimproving?

For CashIn The Classifieds

4Mark YMark YMark YMark YMark Yourourourourour

CalendarsCalendarsCalendarsCalendarsCalendars3 Great Special Sections

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MarchThe Lake Orion Review & Oxford Leader

Progress 2010

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Chambermoving inwith village

The Oxford Area Chamber of Commerce isplanning to move its office from E. Burdick St. to

W. Burdick St. later this month.A $300-per-month deal has been reached

between the chamber and the village in whichthe former has agreed to lease 265 squarefeet of office space in the latters municipalcomplex on W. Burdick St.

Were hoping to move the last weekendof January and then be in our new office onFeb. 1, said Holly Bills, the chambers ex-ecutive director.

Bills gave two reasons for the move 1)the chamber was looking for a bigger space;2) the groups current landlord, John BurtRealty, wants to do some renovations to itsbuilding at 15 E. Burdick St.

The move will be put the chamber officeunder the same roof as the village office, po-lice station, township Parks and Recreation

Department and Downtown DevelopmentAuthority. CJC

You hear it on the radio and see it on thenews the economy is improving.

Yet you look around and see housing fore-closures in your neighborhood. The newsreports record unemployment levels continueto be the norm in Michigan.

There is evidencethat the economy isshowing signs of im-

provement, but thechanges, unfortu-nately, wont turn theeconomy around over-night. While we waitfor the positivechanges to take effect,many people continueto face the challenge ofliving on a tight bud-get. Monthly bill pay-ments start gettingpaid late, or not at all.

Loss of employmentis a common reasonwhy individuals and families fall behind intheir mortgage and credit card payments. Butunemployment isnt the only thing that cancause financial hardships - unexpected fam-

ily changes including divorce and death,unexpected medical bills and even car andhouse repairs could end up causing a lot ofpressure to your bottom line.

Some people start paying their bills bycharging their credit cards up to their limit,only to end up with higher monthly paymentsand potential fees! Credit card rate hikes onlyadd more misery to the situation.

You may even feel the cash crunch your-self what can you do to help avoid finan-cial distress?

If you realize that you are going to startfalling behind on your mortgage payments,the first thing you should do is call yourlender! Dont ignore the problem or ignoreletters from your lender this will often makethe situation worse.

Be careful to avoid foreclosure preven-

tion companies that charge fees to help youavoid foreclosure fees you could be usingto make a mortgage payment! Beware of firmsthat claim they can stop your foreclosure bysigning the title to your house over to them you could end up being a renter in your ownhome! Never sign any legal documents with-out reading and understanding the terms andgetting professional advice from an attorney.

There are also many credit counselingservices that can help you create a budget tohelp you get a better understanding of whereyour income is going and how you can sur-vive through these times with the resourcesyou have. Again be careful to work with areputable firm, find out what fees they chargeand get more than one opinion. Lakes Com-munity Credit Union offers our membershipfree financial counseling services throughACCEL. Looking forward to positivechanges in 2010!

GROWyour business!

TELL the communitywhy youre the best!RESERVE your spot

in The Oxford

Leaders annualbusiness review.

PROGRESS 2010 is agreat way to

jumpstart this yearsmarketing plan.

Call Eric Lewis at(248) 628-4801.


12/12

What's The Biz -- Oxford, Feb. 2010

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Transcript of What's The Biz -- Oxford, Feb. 2010