COZY UP TO CLEAN! 111111111Pr-- - - • fi 41 t T. • r fo , 11 • Colder days mean spending time indoors with family and friends. So, now is the perfect time for a thorough cleaning of your carpet, rugs and couches for the cozy season ahead! CARPET CLEANING 5 ROOMS $109.99 2 ROOMS $59 99 7' SOFA $59 99 OR 2 CHAIRS some restrictions apply 41051* George Karmo and Adam Kaplan 1-800-HAGOPIAN (424-6742) www.originalhagopian.com RUG CLEANING 2 FOR HAGOPIAN Bring your rugs to any of our drop-off centers and we'll clean every other one FREE! Building Community Chaldean, Jewish entrepreneurs are 'one more fiber in connective tissue.' Expect the Best... Expect the Purple Truck! Crystal Kassab Jabiro Special to the Jewish News Oak Park • Birmingham Novi • Utica • Ann Arbor Ask about our expert rug repair! 1893500 DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD. It Doesn't Have To Cost A fortune... Only Look Like It! Complete kitchen and bathroom remodeling as well as furniture design and installations including granite, wood and other materials. ••• Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989 3+ PRIVATE ACRES IN FRANKLIN VILLAGE I $749,900 "" )) *f Renovate or build your dream home on 3+ private acres with river at far back, pond & barn. Existing home is 3 BR, 3 bath mid- century modern. 26 December 11 • 2014 Arthur Horwitz, Margaret Winters and Robert Forsythe of WSU, and Martin Manna JN M ore than 50 Chaldean and Jewish entrepreneurs attended the Building Community Entrepreneurship Forum at Wayne State University's McGregor Memorial Conference Center in Detroit on Nov. 19. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan was a last-minute cancellation, but the evening was still deemed a success. Martin Manna, co-publisher of the Chaldean News, and Arthur Horwitz, pub- lisher and executive editor of the Detroit Jewish News, shared opening remarks. "This has been a special time for us," Manna said about Chaldean Americans' efforts regarding the horrific attacks on Christians in Iraq. "It's eerily reminiscent of what happened to the Jews at the time of Nazi rule and now both of our com- munities have been collaborating more than ever:' Horwitz reminisced about more than a decade ago when he met Manna and Michael Sarafa, who were looking to start a contemporary news vehicle for the Chaldean community. "It started to show the potential for how the Chaldean and Jewish communities could work together and how we share such similarities:' Horwitz said. "So you all being here is not a culmina- tion but one more fiber in the connective tissue:' Dean Robert Forsythe of the WSU School of Business commented on the presence of both communities at the university — at least half of the attendees either graduated from Wayne State or had close family members who did. Forsythe spoke about entrepreneurship being a component of the school's vision and discussed initiatives being implemented for its students, including a portfolio com- petition. Among the attendees were entre- preneurs Ronnie Babbie, 27, and Brad Kifferstein, 35. Each started his own busi- ness with a personal vision in mind. "I never wanted to work for any- body:' said Babbie, who started Apex Productions, an event-planning company, when he was 19. He admitting learning a quick lesson when only 10 people attend- ed his first event. But he examined his mistakes and asked successful people in the business for advice. His second event attracted 2,000 people. The venture lasted three years until he went to work with his brother, Ed, in informational technologies. That led him to partner with SolutionsPal, a market- ing and website development company. Now he is launching a real estate business called Cobble & Kindling. Kifferstein's vision to "smart your cof- fee" led him to develop Vita-Perk, a vita- min and mineral coffee boost in a stick packet. Targeted at coffee drinkers who want to live a healthy lifestyle, it is not meant to replace multivitamins, but is just a way to "perk the world one coffee cup at a time he said. The longtime vegetarian did his research and found that 500 million coffee cups are consumed per day. "I saw it as an opportunity to capture at least a small percentage," he said. A full launch is expected in January 2015, and Kifferstein already has commit- ments from local stores such as Holiday Market and Market Square. Both men found the networking event to be a terrific chance to meet new people. "I think it's awesome how our com- munities work together," Kifferstein said. "The synergy is very exciting:' Horwitz said that bringing business to Detroit was a generational opportunity. "You could look at your rearview mir- ror 20 years from now and say, 'Wow, I was a part of it!" ❑ Event sponsors were Bank of Michigan, Henry Ford Health System, Lawrence Tech University, Meijer, Oakland Community College, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools and Wayne State University School of Business.