from a hobby to a full-blown 
business.
For Halpern, however, start-
ing a business was a no-brain-
er. Hailing from generations 
of entrepreneurs — a trait she 
says is in her blood — she 
manages Party Sistas along-
side working at her day job at 
OneTable, a national nonprofit 
that helps make Shabbat din-
ners accessible to the younger 
Jewish community.
It’s not Halpern’s first foray 
into Jewish outreach. Since 
childhood, she’s been involved 
in Metro Detroit’s Jewish 
community, from attending 
Tamarack Camps as a teenager 
to events through BBYO. Later, 
as an adult, she worked at 
BBYO and Jewish Federation 
of Greater Ann Arbor, and 
completed various internships 
at Jewish organizations.

FINDING INSPIRATION 
IN COMMUNITY
Being so connected to the 
Jewish community, Halpern 
says, helped her bring Party 
Sistas to life and build clientele. 
“I don’t think I would have 
been as successful so quickly 
if it wasn’t for my connections 
and my past relationships in 
the community.
”
One of the main inspirations 
for Party Sistas, she says, is the 
Jewish community that helped 
bring the idea to fruition. “I 
love the Jewish community 
and everything it does for peo-
ple,
” says Halpern, who is able 

to bridge her day job in Jewish 
outreach with her creative 
endeavors. “It gives you life-
long friends and a place that 
you can call home.
”
Now, a year-and-a-half after 
her sister’s birthday, Halpern 
is creating everything from 
gummy candy arrangements 
to candy snack boxes, and the 
possibilities are wide open 
when it comes to different 
arrangements that can be 
made from candy and bal-
loons.
In addition to arrangements, 
Party Sistas also offers a candy 
sushi-making party that 
Halpern says is equally fun for 
kids and adults. Through her 
business, she gets an oppor-
tunity to work on everything 
from traditional gifts to wed-
ding showers to bachelorette 
parties and, most recently, 
Bloomfield Hills High School’s 
prom.
“I just like to make people 
happy,
” she says of her colorful 
creations.
Eventually, Halpern wants 
to pursue big goals for Party 
Sistas. Her dream, she says, 
is to make a candy or snack 
table at the Grammys, but, 
in the meantime, she simply 
wants to continue working 
with candy.
“I want to keep getting 
creative and finding differ-
ent ways to do candy and 
bring candy to people’s lives,
” 
Halpern says, “and to make 
people happy.
” 

NEXT DOR

JUNE 23 • 2022 | 33

“TALENT IS THE SINGLE BIGGEST 
DRIVER OF ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 

IN THE 21ST CENTURY.” 

 — STEVE TOBOCMAN

BUSINESS continued from page 31

development legislation in 
Lansing.” 
Sandy Baruah, on the 
other hand, says, “We have 
not been as consistent or as 
aggressive as other states in 
attracting investment from 
other parts of the country or 
other parts of the world.”
Simply cutting business 
taxes across the board does 
not strike Krauss as an 
effective strategy: “When 
we talk about upcoming 
projects, we talk to corporate 
decision makers every day, 
and … We usually do not get 
asked about taxes.” 

PUTTING IT ALL 
TOGETHER 
“Michigan is at a real 
crossroads. Are we going 
to invest in the education 
and immigration strategies 
that we need?” Tobocman 
asks. And he feels uncertain. 

“Simply put, I’m pretty 
nervous. I am not confident 
that our legislators and 
leaders grasp the realities of 
these issues. It’s too easy to 
get distracted by culture wars 
and partisan politics.” 

Baruah assesses the future 
of Michigan positively: “It is 
very solid, very, very solid.” 
He cites a positive metric 
in Michigan’s impressive 
number of business starts. 
He sees Michigan as 
prepared to benefit from the 
coming revolutionary change 
to electric vehicles. 
Donofrio, surveying 
the business community, 
says, “We’re optimistic. 
That’s especially if we take 
advantage of a once-in-a-
generation opportunity to 
invest in our state’s future 
provided to us by state 
budget surpluses and federal 
funds.” 

