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The JCC in West Bloomfield

Still
In The Red

One year after JPM closure,
JCC’s finances remain precarious.

Jackie Headapohl | Managing Editor

An overhead view of the JCC swimming pool

O

ne year after the Oak
Park branch of the Jewish
Community Center was
shuttered to save money, the JCC is
still operating at a loss and its bal-
ance sheet is still in trouble.
Brian Siegel took over the helm
of the JCC in March from CEO Jim
Issner, who was brought on board in
2013, when a financial mismanage-
ment scandal pro-
pelled the JCC into
the spotlight and
the community
united to try to
“right the ship.”
Siegel, 52, was
previously presi-
dent of the JCC
board and has
Brian Siegel
been involved with
the organization
and the broader Jewish community
for many years. An entrepreneur, he
is the founder and managing partner
of Joe Dumars’ Fieldhouse in Shelby
Township and Detroit as well as
developer and business operations
manager for Local Kitchen and Bar
in Ferndale. Siegel also practiced
real estate law for a national firm
in Chicago prior to moving home
to Detroit. A U-M alum, he has two
children, Natalie, 14, and Griffin, 11.
Much has been done in the past
three years to improve the finances
of the JCC and ensure its sustain-
ability for the future — but much
still needs to be done, according to
Siegel, who said he is working to
regain community trust and inspire a
fresh start.
“But talk is cheap,” he said. “I’m
anxious to show real movement —
real change.”

OPERATING LOSS REMAINS
The closure of the JPM building net-
ted a savings of $885,000, but the
preliminary operating loss for JCC’s
fiscal year 2015-2016 is $275,000.
“If you ask me, the return on
investment at JPM was on mission,”
Siegel said. “So it was heartbreak-
ing to stop serving people who were
aligned with our mission.
“The quid pro quo of that was
that it got us closer on our operating
statement to break even. It didn’t get
us all the way there, but we’re a lot
closer than we were.
“We are healthier financially,” he
added, “but we’re not necessarily
healthier mission-based because we
stopped serving an important popu-
lation.”
More importantly, Siegel said, is
the closure didn’t correct JCC’s bal-
ance sheet. “If year-to-year you’re
losing money, you’re digging a
deeper hole and your balance sheet
gets worse. The JCC is still operating
under a loss, although it’s digging
a smaller hole each year. We think
we’re within reach of being positive
operationally on our $13 million to
$14 million budget.
“But until the balance sheet is cor-
rected, the JCC is in crisis.”

BALANCE SHEET
UNCHANGED
The JCC has been running a deficit on
its balance sheet for at least the last 10
years, and the number has been the
same every year: about $4.5 million.
According to Siegel, the breakdown
in debt consists of:
• a line of credit that is fully spent
• operating capital that the JCC
doesn’t have

continued on page 16

14 September 1 • 2016