FLINT-AREA BUSINESS

Local Small Business, Market Updates, Auto Industry, Economy, Finance News & More

This is the Wheels Calendar published in the Aug. 28, 2008 issue of The Flint Journal:

Ongoing

• Thursdays: Kearsley Car Cruise, starts at 6 p.m., 7-Eleven, 5015 Richfield Road, Genesee Township.

• Thursdays: Bike night, starts at 6 p.m., AJ Racers Sports Bar, 4020 N. Dort Highway, Flint.

• Mondays: Car cruise, 5-9 p.m., Twins Pizza, 4195 W. Vienna Road, Vienna Township.

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan -- Robert M. Ransom is a judge for hire.

The retired Genesee County Circuit Court judge has branched out into a relatively new kind of practice in Michigan: private judging.

Ransom

While it's still uncommon in Michigan, other states such as California and Ohio are seeing an increasing numbers of private judges.

"They can have it done on an expedited basis, on their own time frame," Ransom said.

Since Ransom still works as a judge -- filling in while judges in Genesee, Oakland and Shiawassee counties are away -- he maintains his title and all the duties that go along with it.

Stuart Bauer | The Flint JournalThe new General Motors Service and Parts Operations Davison Road Packaging Center, 4134 Davison Road at Donegal Street in Burton. The facility began operations with some employees in March. It employs about 300 hourly workers, represented by UAW Local 651, and about 20 salaried employees. The plant packages and processes SPO parts. (Source: General Motors Service and Parts Operations and UAW Local 651)

BURTON, Michigan -- About 200 laid-off Delphi Flint East employees are headed back to work.

After getting laid off last month, the workers are being hired at the nearby General Motors Service and Parts Operations Davison Road Packaging Center.

They'll work second shift at the new SPO plant, and about 70 workers already have been hired, said Art Reyes, president of UAW Local 651. The hiring begun this month should be completed by the end of September, he said.

CATAWBA, Wisconsin -- Frank Oresnik's "the old girl" is getting quite a few looks on eBay, although the truck didn't get a high enough bid to sell.

Oresnik owns a 1991 Chevy Silverado that's traveled more than 1 million miles all powered by its original, Flint-made V-8 engine. He has it up for sale on Ebay.

Within the first 72 hours the site had 11,134 hits.

FLINT, Michigan -- In a basement lab of the Mott Engineering and Science Center at Kettering University, Andrew Snyder and Antonio Reis test a fuel cell that could someday help power diesel trucks.

The engineers are working full time for Global Energy Innovations -- the first company to do fuel cell research in Kettering's one-year-old Fuel Cell and Advanced Technologies Commercialization Incubator.

"The fuel cell incubator is giving us a place to do this research," said Snyder, 23, a Kettering alum. "I think the incubator is giving Flint a better image in terms of taking a step towards a greener future."

GEI, a Kettering-run spin-off company, marks what some Kettering officials say is a progressive step for getting on the ground floor of fuel cell research here.

FENTON, Michigan -- Laura Carpenter is hoping to start a reverse trend.

She is moving her Little Professor Bookstore from Silver Lake Village -- a massive shopping center next to U.S. 23 -- to downtown Fenton, with plans to open this week.

Businesses have flocked from downtown and N. Leroy Street to Silver Lake Village since it opened in the 1990s. Little Professor was located for 12 years in the shopping center, which is anchored by Wal-Mart, Kmart and Home Depot.

Carpenter predicted the move to Fenton's historic Dibbleville district will be a boon for the book store.

Nikki Brand | The Flushing ObserverPC Carole Bleau (from left), Jamie Brandow and Aaron Blake own Bleau Garden in downtown Flushing.

FLUSHING, Michigan -- Bleau Garden has a variety of alternative therapies on hand to remedy the blues.

The business opened June 11 at 109 E. Main St. and offers items such as aromatherapy oils and tuning forks, classes to reduce stress and a massage therapist who specializes in everything from polarity therapy to reiki.

Perusing one-of-a-kind jewelry made on-site or the changing displays of artwork by local residents also could be a good pick-me-up.