October 2016 Issue

Hammer On: Car enthusiast restores rusty wreckage, nearly doubling business each year

By Al Parker

Adam Hammer started his classic car restoration business – Hammer and Dolly Automotive Restorations – four years ago with “a bench and a tool box.”

Not content to repair modern wheels, Hammer is dedicated to bringing life back to rusty wreckage like a ’55 Chevy Nomad station wagon, a ’53 Buick Skylark or a 1960 Alvis TD21, the first project his shop handled when it opened.

“The Alvis is a British car that we did for some people in Ohio,” recalled Hammer. “It had sat for years and took almost six months to complete. But they were very pleased and …

DRIVEN: As National Sales Level Off, TC Dealers Still See Steady Growth

By Rick Haglund

Car and truck sales in the United States are starting to level off after climbing to a record 17.4 million new vehicles last year. But Traverse City dealers say they are continuing to enjoy strong results and don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

“It’s probably true to some extent that sales have peaked (nationally)," said Jim Jeffreys, a 36-year industry veteran and general manager of Fox Grand Traverse, which sells Ford, Lincoln, Mercedes Benz …

Closing Table Woes: 'TRID' promotes greater transparency, but creates more arduous process

By Ross Boissoneau

A dozen years ago, the housing industry was sailing along at ever-increasing levels, and the country’s economy seemed to be growing without an end in sight. Then in early 2006, prices peaked before starting a precipitous slide. By 2008, Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller home price index reported the largest price drop in its history. When the real estate bubble burst, many home purchasers were left underwater as their homes were not worth what they owed …

Critical Shortage Getting Worse: Area car dealerships, garages struggle to find enough auto techs

By Clark Miller

Except for devoted Luddites who like to work on their older model muscle cars and pickups, the day of the shade tree mechanic has pretty much passed. Radical changes in car technology saw to that.

The mechanical skill it takes to pull an engine block or fix a transmission still counts for something. But these days what garages and car dealerships throughout the region look for as much, and probably more, is an understanding of …

Former NMC Auto Tech Student Shines in High-Tech Tesla Career

With his work ethic and a solid background in engineering, former Northwestern Michigan College automotive tech student Andrew Medley could have written his own ticket when it came time to take a job. And it appears he did. He landed a job at automaker Tesla, which might be compared to …

By Clark Miller

Growing Title Company Sees Future on Front Street

One of the last – if not the last – locally-owned and family-operated title companies in Traverse City is on the move.

Mid-American Title Co. is scheduled to relocate from its site at 522 E. Eighth St. to 424 E. Front St., next to Bubba’s Restaurant and Bar, according to …

By Al Parker

Financial Advisory Firms Facing a ‘Talent Crisis’

College costs are escalating. Out-of-pocket health care expenses are rising. Weddings can cost more than many people earn in a year. And millions of baby boomers are facing retirement.

But at a time when the cost of living seems overwhelming, there likely will be many fewer experts to help plan …

By Rick Haglund

Tips for Being Retirement-Ready

Retirement can feel like a long way off, but life seems to move faster than we expect. Retiring is a momentous change. You’ve worked hard, so how does your hard work translate into a successful retirement. Below are tips for becoming retirement ready:

5-Plus Years to Retirement Pay yourself first …

By Meghan Phillips Dykstra

Not Slowing Down: Dynamic retirees and their life after work

Susan Nichols, Julie Avery and Deb Jackson have many things in common – active, educated, engaged, retired. All recently left fulfilling lifetime careers during the past few years, bringing their passions for and skills with them into new life chapters in northern Michigan. “Retiring,” however, is not a term that …

By Mary Bevans Gillett

Let's Not Close Our Eyes to the Vision

Among the disappointing aspects of the poorly-framed “tall building” debate in Traverse City is that it seems to ignore a very strong message brought forth from one of the region’s great accomplishments – that being The Grand Vision. This amazing community-based land-use guide created just a few short years ago …

By Doug Luciani

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