BY THE NUMBERS

KILDEER, IL—For the first time in decades, more manufacturing jobs are returning to the US than are going offshore, according to the Reshoring Initiative, an industry-led group in Kildeer, IL. The combined reshoring and foreign direct investment grew by more than 10% in 2016, according to a new report from the group, adding 77,000 jobs and exceeding the rate of offshoring by about 27,000 jobs. The 2016 results bring the total number of manufacturing jobs brought back from offshore to more than 338,000 since the manufacturing employment low of February 2010. The Reshoring Initiative’s 2016 Reshoring Report contains data on US reshoring and FDI by companies that have returned US production or sourcing from offshore. The report includes cumulative data from 2010 through 2016, as well as highlights from the first quarter of 2017.

NEWS & NOTABLES

CHICAGO—Dykema, a national law firm, has just added Michael D. Weis to its corporate finance practice group as a member in the firm’s Chicago office. Weis joins Dykema from Williams, Bax & Saltzman, where he served as chair of the firm’s business and transactional practice. His practice focuses on general corporate representation, commercial real estate and finance and taxation for mid-size privately and publicly held entities. Weis has been involved in the negotiation and closing of hundreds of complex corporate, commercial real estate and finance transaction in the United States and abroad.

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BIRMINGHAM, MI—Broder & Sachse Real Estate, a Birmingham-based development company, has just promoted Elizabeth Kmetz to vice president of commercial asset management and construction. In her elevated role, Kmetz will manage property operations, construction, renovation and capital improvement projects, financials, acquisitions and dispositions. Her changed title reflects a shift made to Broder & Sachse’s business model in November 2016, which allows the company to focus its efforts on property development in Detroit. “In her new role Elizabeth will continue our company’s evolution as being the most innovative urban developer in Detroit, while working to manage and expand our portfolio of property,” says Richard Brody, the company’s chief executive officer.

CHICAGO—Lynn Reich with Colliers International is the 2017 recipient of The Millie Award from the SIOR Foundation. The award was presented he at SIOR’s 2017 Spring Conference held in New Orleans the last week of April by Patricia Loveall, the Immediate past president of the SIOR Foundation and veteran industrial broker in Kidder Mathews’ Seattle office. The SIOR Foundation presents The Millie Award periodically to a woman that is active in SIOR, has established a distinguished career, provides outstanding service to the society and has made significant strides in the commercial real estate industry as a female. It was named in honor of Millie Hanson, SIOR, who passed away in December of 2007. In 1983, after her firm merged with what was then Colliers Bennett & Kahnweiler, Reich became the company’s first woman hire in the industrial real estate sector. 

DEALTRACKER

CBRE_Flex-N-GateFacilityCHICAGO—Flex-N-Gate recently signed a 288,000-square-foot lease at 2924 126th St. on Chicago’s south side. The company will begin its lease of the facility in January 2018 and will convert the existing warehouse into a modern automotive operation that will serve multiple automakers, including the nearby Ford Chicago Assembly Plant. Conversion of the space will occur throughout the year, with the first quarter of 2019 targeted for the start of production. CBRE’s Mitch Adams and George Maragos represented ownership in the transaction. Jason West and Mike Magliano of Cushman & Wakefield represented Flex-N-Gate. The company has also entered into a 10-year EDGE partnership with the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago, committed it to hiring at least 286 full-time employees over the next three years and investing $30 million into the facility over the next 10 years.