business & professional
Want To Buy A
Used Trolley Car?
Academic Boycotts
Of Israel Examined
Robert Levy is helping Detroit sell its surplus vehicles.
Allan Nahajewski
Contributing Writer
A
s a boy gowing up in
Southfield and attend-
ing Temple Beth El in
Detroit, Robert Levy never envi-
sioned entering his father's line
of work.
Robert's father, Norman, sold
industrial assets. Norman Levy
Associates grew to become the
largest and most respected firm
of its kind, valuing and sell-
ing billions of dollars worth of
Robert
industrial machinery, equipment,
inventory and capital assets.
"I remember my father telling
me that the most important thing that
I would ever do in my life was to pick
something that I would enjoy doing and
would make me happy:' recalls Levy,
now 56. "My father said, 'This is my
business. Go find your own:"
While in college, Levy tried metal-
smithing and the jewelry business.
"I was pretty good at it, but I needed
something more, so I asked my father
if he would give me an opportunity to
work in his business. He said, 'We have
a sale going on in England right now Go
work there for two weeks, and when you
get back, we'll talk:"
The trip to England was an eye-
opener. "I loved it. I had a fantastic time
working, interacting and learning; Levy
said. "I came back and said to my father,
`I really think I'd like to try this business
with you: He said, 'OK, go to work: He
was my mentor for three years until he
passed away. He taught me so much
about business. He really mentored me
in a very positive way:'
Flash forward 35 years. Robert
Levy is now president and managing
partner of Hilco Industrial, a global
leader in the sale of industrial assets,
based in Farmington Hills. He's cur-
rently involved in the sale of the city of
Detroit's surplus transportation assets
— everything from garbage trucks
maintenance vehicles, passenger vans,
snowplows, forklifts, cranes and back-
hoes to aged police cars and fire trucks
and even antique trolleys.
Hilco Industrial and its joint venture
partner Miedema Asset Management
were awarded the three-year contract
after a competitive bid process that was
held over several months.
"We're thrilled:' Levy said. "We live in
36 November 13 • 2014
JN
Levy
This garbage truck is one of many vehicles Levy is sell-
ing for the city of Detroit.
this community and have built our busi-
ness in the Metropolitan Detroit area so
we are both financially and emotionally
invested in helping the city maximize its
recovery in every way:'
Levy calls the project "a huge respon-
sibility:'
"It's a very high-profile transaction," he
said. "Everybody's eyeballs are on the city
of Detroit, and the city wouldn't select
anyone who would not represent them in
a very professional, transparent way:'
Assets for sale are being marshaled
at the Herman Kiefer Hospital site on
Taylor Street in Detroit.
Large-scale asset sales are Levy's and
Hilco's specialty.
"Last year, we did the Hostess liq-
uidation. That was a very successful
transaction. We put Twinkies back on
the shelves:' Levy said. Hilco success-
fully sold more than 12,000 vehicles for
Hostess during its bankruptcy and sub-
sequent restructuring.
From 2009 to 2011, Hilco managed
liquidation of assets during the realign-
ment of the U.S auto industry. "We
sold the assets for about 50 of the auto
plants in Michigan and throughout the
Midwest for GM, Ford and Chrysler,"
Levy said.
Hilco also purchased a four-square-
mile steel mill in Maryland, which at
one time was the largest steel mill in the
Western Hemisphere. "We're liquidating
the equipment there and repurposing
the land right now. That's a massive
undertaking."
Hilco has nearly 600 employees.
"We do a lot of high-profile work on
an international basis. We have offices
throughout the United States, Canada
and Mexico, Europe and Asia, and we're
now operating in Austrailia," Levy said.
Headquartered in Michigan, the indus-
trial division has more than 200 employ-
ees globally, including 25 locally.
For the city of Detroit contract,
the list of transportation assets being
offered are mainly from three depart-
ments: the Detroit Department of
Transportation, which includes transit
buses and fabrication shop assets; the
Public Lighting Department, which
includes utility maintenance equipment,
including bucket trucks, digger derricks
and cable vans and inventory associated
with utility repairs; and the Department
of Public Works, which includes waste
trucks, log loaders and additional rolling
stock. The Fire and Police departments
also have excess vehicles for sale.
Levy believes it's the experience and
reputation of Hilco and Miedema that
earned the companies the project.
"I think we represent the best oppor-
tunity for the city to monetize assets:'
Levy said. "Together, we have a lot of
experience working with municipalities.
We understand what the assets are and
the way to bring those to the market-
place in the fastest and best light. Our
technology and our marketing capability
are unsurpassed:'
Levy said the sale is a sign of the city's
progress.
"The city is now becoming fiscally
responsible, and I'm very pleased to see
this:' he said. "Certain services have
been privatized — garbage collection,
for example — so the city no longer
needs these assets. There are quite a few
high-quality vehicles for sale:'
Information about the assets being
sold can be found at www.hilcoind.
corn.
❑
A
heated issue confronting profes-
sional academic associations today
is whether to join the movement
to boycott Israeli academic institutions
because of the country's political actions.
Self-described "ten-
ured radical" Cary R.
Nelson will explore this
movement and its effects
during a Nov. 19 presenta-
tion at Eastern Michigan
University in Ypsilanti.
Nelson, the Jubilee
Professor
of Liberal
Cary Nelson
Arts and Sciences at the
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, will speak on "Bait
and Switch: The Purpose of the Movement
to Boycott Israel" at 7:30 p.m. in the EMU
Student Center Auditorium, 900 Oakwood.
The program, free and open to the public,
is part of EMU's Jewish Studies Program lec-
ture series.
Nelson will discuss how, during the past
year, the movement to weaken Israel through
boycotts, divestments and sanctions has
gained significant momentum.
Nelson has spoken out against this growing
campaign, expressing concern at the move-
ment's success at increasing intolerance on
American campuses.
For more information, contact jewish.
studies@emich.edu or Marty Shichtman at
mshichtmal@emich.edu.
❑
Secular Humanists Look
At Issues Of Intermarriage
How has freedom and intermarriage
changed Jewish identity? What will the
Jewish community look like in the next
generation?
The International Institute for Secular
Humanistic Judaism (IISHJ) will present
"Colloquium 2014: Evolution or Revolution?
Intermarriage, Jewish Culture and the
Future of Jewish Community" Friday-
Sunday, Nov. 14-16, at the Birmingham
Temple in Farmington Hills
Speakers include Paul Golin, associate
executive director of the Jewish Outreach
Institute; Rabbi Sivan Malkin Maas, dean
of Tmura-IISHJ in Jerusalem and direc-
tor of "The Secular Library;" Keren
McGinity, director of Love and Tradition:
Intermarriage Insights for a Jewish Future;
and Rabbi Adam Chalom, dean for North
America of the IISHJ.
The colloquium is free and open to the
public, though a suggested donation is
encouraged. For online registration, visit
iishj.org/colloquium-14.html.
For information about the institute and
its programs, visit www.iishj.org , or contact
info@iishj.org or (847) 383-6330.