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SILVERMAN page 65

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1997

Maryland.
"It is definitely a cyclical busi-
ness," said Mr. Silverman. "In-
terest rates, jobs, the same
things that have our market
where it is today will at some
point in the future have our mar-
ket less successful. So you real-
ly need to be thinking about
more than one year or five years
if you're a longevity-based real
estate firm. You need to be mak-
ing good decisions about where
you're headed in the future.
"We are thrilled beyond words
to be major participants in
Michigan's most successful econ-
omy," said Mr. Silverman. "And
I give a lot of credit to Gov.
(John) Engler, and (Detroit)
Mayor (Dennis) Archer, and all
of the various municipal gov-
ernments we do business with,
for playing as a team in order to
make Michigan a strong sur-
vivor-type area.
"And now, with all the jobs
that have been created, there's
an upward spiral that occurs
with Michigan becoming very
well perceived nationally. That
begets more business, which cre-
ates more jobs, which creates
more momentum.
"Getting a state economy on
track is a big train to push down
the rails. But once that thing is
chunking, you can throw a log
on the fire, and make the thing
keep going for a long time," Mr.
Silverman said.
"My dad and the guys I know
that are really the mavens
around town in this business,
happily say lately that they have
never seen the economy this
good in the state of Michigan in
their entire careers."
Once his appetite for the

building industry was whetted
by Grandpa Nathan, there was
no derailing Buzz from his fu-
ture calling. He started doing
construction work as a summer
laborer when he was 12 years
old. "I worked every summer un-
til I was 17, and after that, I
worked as a leasing agent in
some of my father's apartments
in the summers."
Mr. Silverman attended the
University of Arizona and the
University of California at
Berkeley. Then he came home
on a Christmas break and found
that his divorced mother, Gerry
Goodman, had opened a store at
Wonderland Shopping Center in
Livonia called Wells Cargo.
"I came back from college, and
I pulled into the parking lot at
Wonderland Mall, and there are
people standing outside the mall
in a line and it is snowing. I walk
in, and it is my mom's store that
they're waiting in line to get
into," Mr. Silverman recalled,
still in awe.
"Here's this little 3,000-
square-foot store, just filled with
china and glass and paper and
boxes. My mother would unload
a box and customers would take
the merchandise right out of her
hands. And my mom's running
the cash register too. It is all un-
believable to me.
"I come over and say, 'Hi
Mom,' and she gives me a kiss
and says, 'Start wrapping.' And
I started wrapping, and I never
did go back to school," said Mr.
Silverman.
At the age of 22, Mr. Silverman
became general manager of Wells
Cargo, which eventually operat-
ed seven stores. Today, only the
Birmingham store remains, but