Suttons Bay Law

Now that we know who our 44th president will be, the landscape has become clear as to what our income and estate tax will be like under the new administration.

Under the current estate tax law, in addition to an unlimited marital deduction resulting in no tax on the death of the first spouse, each individual has the ability to transfer up to $2,000,000.00 tax free to individuals other than a spouse with that credit increasing to $3,500,000.00 effective January 1, 2009. The current law eliminates estate tax for the year 2010 with the reinstitution of the estate tax thereafter with various reductions to the unified credit in January 2011 and thereafter.

President-elect Obama has stated he supports a continuation of the estate tax as well as maintaining the higher unified credit of $3,500,000.00. The realities of the current financial crisis, two wars and the level of national debt, inevitably would have resulted in a continuation of the estate tax in some form regardless of the election’s outcome.

Although many of the Bush income tax cuts will remain in place, we will likely see an increase of income tax rates for higher wage earners and an increase in the capital gains tax. One obvious strategy to avoid capital gains tax is to sell highly appreciated assets before the end of this year to take advantage of the current tax rate. However, what if you own illiquid highly appreciated assets such as real estate or even a business that would be difficult to sell by the end of this year?

One significant tax planning tool is a charitable remainder trust (CRT). A CRT provides both income and estate tax relief. An individual can form a CRT and then transfer ownership of an asset (or multiple assets) into the CRT. Once the title to the asset has been transferred to the CRT, the Trustee of the CRT may sell the asset with no capital gain tax on any portion of the appreciation of the asset. A CRT can last for a certain term of years up to a maximum of 20 years or for the lifetime of the person forming the CRT. During the CRT’s term, the Trustee pays a percentage of the CRT’s assets to the individual forming the CRT. When the CRT expires, the remaining assets are then transferred to a charity or multiple charities as designated by the person forming the CRT. In addition, the person establishing the CRT receives a current charitable income tax deduction that can be carried forward for up to 5 years. Finally, the value of the CRTs assets are not includable in a deceased individual’s estate for estate tax purposes. Therefore, there is no estate tax on the assets in the CRT.

While the thought of having proceeds being distributed from the CRT to a charity as opposed to ones relatives may be disconcerting, consider the following example:

Mr. Smith has real estate he intends to sell. He could transfer title of the real estate to the CRT without uncapping the property for real estate tax purposes pending sale. The property sells for $1,000,000.00 and the CRT’s term is 20 years. The income to be paid would be 6% of the resulting sale proceeds which would be produced by the Trustee of the CRT investing the proceeds in securities. This income would be paid to Mr. Smith and any other designated beneficiary by him in the CRT if he died before the end of the 20 year term.

Given these facts, the total amount paid from the CRT to Mr. Smith or his designated beneficiaries over the 20 years would be approximately $1,400,000,000.00 (a return of the original value of the asset plus excess return) and the remainder interest which would be distributed to charities would be valued at approximately $632,000.00.

The income tax benefits of no capital gains tax, a current charitable deduction, plus excluding the remaining property from estate taxes is a very favorable result. In the example above, Mr. Smith to the extent he didn’t need the income could also implement a gifting program to his children or others to further reduce the assets subject to the estate tax.

Please contact us at 231-271-4500 if you are interested in discussing the possibility of implementing a Charitable Remainder Trust as part of your overall estate plan.

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The information contained in this publication is meant for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal advice. Laws and their application vary based upon a client’s unique facts and circumstances. Wright Penning & Beamer disclaims any responsibility for action taken in reliance on this publication without further consultation and analysis. For questions, please contact us at (231) 271-4500 or at dpenning@wrightpenning.com.

Tags: Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Know Your Business by Dan Penning
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We are pleased to announce that attorney, Dan A. Penning, has become a member of the American Agricultural Law Association (AALA) which is the only national professional organization focusing on the legal needs of the agricultural community. AALA is an independent forum for development of innovative and workable solutions to complex agricultural law problems.

Tags: Know Your Business by Dan Penning
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By Karey Wutkowski

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The federal agency that insures most U.S. bank deposits unveiled a plan to prevent about 1.5 million home mortgage foreclosures by promising to share any losses with mortgage companies that agree to refinance certain home loans.

The agency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, said on Friday the plan would cost the government about $24.4 billion, which could be paid from the U.S. Treasury’s $700 billion bailout program for the financial industry.

So far, most of the money in the bailout program, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, has been injected as capital into banks.

FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair, who spent weeks unsuccessfully lobbying Bush administration officials for the foreclosure prevention plan, unveiled her agency’s proposal two days after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson dismissed the idea of the government underwriting failing home loans.

Paulson told reporters on Wednesday, “That (foreclosure plan) is a subsidy, or spending, program. The TARP was investment, not spending.”

The FDIC pushed forward with its plan, posting it on its website Friday morning (http://www.fdic.gov/consumers/loans/loanmod/index.html).

“Although foreclosures are costly to lenders, borrowers and communities, the pace of loan modifications continues to be extremely slow,” the FDIC said. “It is imperative to provide incentives to achieve a sufficient scale in loan modifications to stem the reductions in housing prices and rising foreclosures.”

The FDIC said its plan would modify about 2.2 million mortgage loans by offering financial incentives to mortgage servicers. It would pay servicers $1,000 to cover expenses for each loan modified to the required standards, and would promise to share up to 50 percent of losses incurred if a modified loan defaults.

Eligible borrowers would include those who have missed at least two monthly payments on loans for homes they live in. Servicers would be expected to lower those borrowers’ monthly payments to about 31 percent of the borrowers’ monthly income.

The Treasury Department said on Friday that it was aggressively looking at ways to reduce skyrocketing home foreclosures under the TARP.

“We continue to aggressively examine strategies to mitigate foreclosures and maximize loan modifications, which are a key part of working through the necessary housing correction and maintaining the strength of our communities,” Treasury Interim Assistant Secretary Neel Kashkari said in testimony prepared for delivery to a U.S. House of Representatives committee.

Link to Original Reuters Article: (Reporting by Karey Wutkowski; editing by John Wallace)

Tags: Asset Protection, Personal Management, Suttons Bay Depot by Dan Penning
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California boasts the largest wine industry of any state in the country. California’s past success and bright future with respect to its wine industry is primarily the result of two factors. First, the wine growers in California implemented sustainable wine growing practices that meet current needs without compromising the livelihood and needs of future generations. Second, approximately 60% of California’s wineries are family owned and operated and have implemented family business succession planning to protect ongoing viability of the business.

A prime example of a family owned winery that adhered to both of the aforementioned elements that has led to a successful transition of involvement and ownership of family members into a fourth generation is the E&J Gallo Winery which is celebrating its 75th anniversary.

The mistake many family business owners make, no matter what type of business, is not designing and implementing a business succession plan. The predictable consequences of the failure to plan are fights over control between surviving family members and working capital being devoured by having to pay higher estate taxes. While the older generation business owner is alive, the relationships and potential or present problems between the next generation of business ownership is rarely so serious that they cannot be improved and, in some instances, resolved entirely. The process of succession planning may be difficult but the risk associated with the alternative of taking no action to plan or doing nothing carries the greatest possibility of risk. Doing nothing may feel good in the short term, but no succession plan is always a terrible succession plan in the long run.

The lawyers at Wright Penning & Beamer are skilled and experienced in advising family business owners how to develop a succession plan that ensures a continuation of the business for future generations to grow and prosper as a “family business”.

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Wine industry impacts economy

Wine grapes are grown in 46 of California’s 58 counties. Its 10 leading wine regions are Amador, Carneros, Livermore, Lodi, Mendocino, Monterey, Paso Robles, Napa, Santa Barbara and Sonoma. From these regions, more than 43 different varieties and blends are grown and cost from $10 to more than $150 per bottle.

Today, however, wine consumers want to know not only where wine is grown, but how it’s grown.

Although winegrowing terms such as organic and biodynamic have drawn consumer curiosity, most grapes are grown sustainably. “Simply put,” said Karen Ross, President of the California Association of Winegrape Growers (CAWG), “sustainability means that we grow and make wine in a way that meets the needs of the present without compromising the livelihood and needs of future generations.”

In 2002, based on a code of 232 best practices, covering every aspect of winemaking and winegrowing from ground to glass, the Wine Institute and CAWG created a Sustainable Winegrowing Program. Since then, thousands of growers and vintners have adopted socially and environmentally responsible practices. For more information on sustainable winegrowing, log on to sustainablewinegrowing.org.

DID YOU KNOW?

California is the fourth largest wine producer in the world, making more than 90 percent of the wines in the U.S. The following are other facts supplied by the Wine Institute:

-In the U.S., two out of every three bottles enjoyed are California wines.

-The majority of California’s 2,700 wineries and 4,600 grape growers are family-owned and operated.

-Nationwide, California’s wine industry generates 875,000 jobs.

-Overall, California’s wine industry economic impact exceeds $125.3 billion.

-In the U.S. last year, California’s wine industry generated $19 billion in retail sales.

WHERE MICHIGAN STANDS

With 56 commercial wineries (up from 17 in 13 years) producing more than 375,000 cases of wine annually, Michigan has successfully linked two growing industries: agriculture and tourism, under the moniker of agritourism.

Also, according to Michigan Wines official Web site, Michigan’s wine industry accounts for more than 5,000 jobs across the state for a payroll of more than $190 million and contributes $800 million to the state’s economy annually.

More than 1,500 acres are devoted to wine grapes, ranking Michigan eighth in the U.S. In the state, vineyard acreage has increased 25 percent in the last 10 years. Yet, that’s not nearly enough to satisfy growing demand, especially for riesling.

Help the economy - drink more Michigan and California wine!

Eleanor & Ray Heald are Contributing Editors for the internationally-respected Quarterly Review of Wines and Troy residents who write about wine for the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers. Contact them by e-mail at focusonwine@aol.com.

From an article which appeared in the Observer & Eccentric on November 6, 2008. Link to the online article.

Tags: Agribusiness, Business Succession, Wine Industry by Dan Penning
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It is estimated that one in five families have a “special needs” member.

Parents with a special needs child worry most about what will happen to that child when they are no longer able to care for him or her. If the family is fortunate enough to own a business, planning for the child’s life after the parent’s death can become complicated.

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As the parent of a special needs child, Attorney Dan Penning knows what is involved in planning for a child’s future.

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For many family business founders, it was the idea of the family working together to secure financial futures that formed the vision and offered the incentive. There must be great comfort in thinking that the business entity will continue to support a child who is unable to support themselves. However, the family business is most likely not the best place to put the financial future of a special needs individual.Individuals with special needs are those who have chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions that limit their ability to live, think and/or work independently. Basically they are people who cannot make it through life without regular and constant assistance. Certainly there are highly functioning special needs individuals who work successfully, but are unable to perform other life tasks like driving or preparing meals.At some point in the life of the special needs individual, their advocates and caregivers, who are usually their parents, are no longer able to perform those tasks. What happens then?Even the highly functioning individual usually runs into increasing needs as life goes on. While they may be able to work successfully as a young adult, that does not ensure long-term success. A family business could provide the perfect work environment for that special needs individual – a custom designed job around caring folks. Later in life, when his or her parents are no longer involved in the business, how would that continue? Would it make sense to make the special needs individual a shareholder or partner so that they can have some control and reap the benefits of the business?The unfortunate truth is that the special needs individual is likely to end up in a state-supported facility at some point – and likewise become a ward of the state. Funds left to your child may be attached by the government and used in lieu of public funds to pay for the support of the child (who may now be an adult). If your child were to own shares in a business, the state could force the sale and/or liquidation of that business to care for the child. How can you then best provide for the care of your child after your death?Dan Penning, managing partner of Wright Penning & Beamer Attorneys in Farmington Hills, Mich., knows firsthand the difficulties of dealing with these issues. The father of an autistic son who is unlikely to be able to care for himself, Penning specializes in corporate law and is a business owner, but has been through the planning issues from the side of a parent.

“Providing for the financial and custodial well-being of a special needs individual is only a part of planning…a very important part,” says Penning. “We want our son to be well cared for and we want our other children to be involved in his care after we are unable to do so. But, we don’t want to put undue burden on our other children, or guilt-trip them into being our replacements as custodians – although we do expect them to be his advocates.”
Penning says good estate planning is key.

“We aren’t sure where our son will be in the future, but we do want to be sure that the funds are available for him. We have set up a ‘Special Needs Trust’ and funded it with life insurance so that the dollars will be there when they are needed. I referred my own case to an attorney who specializes in Special Needs Trusts. That way our other children will get the benefit of our other assets and our special needs son will be well provided for regardless of what financial path our life takes.”

When asked about using the business asset as a funding mechanism for the Special Needs Trust, Penning says he can’t think of many circumstances that would make sense for the Trust to own the business asset.

“You wouldn’t want the trustee to be forcing the business into bad decisions due to the needs of the special needs individual. If the trustee was also a shareholder in his or her own right, that might constitute a conflict of interest and I would want to avoid that. So, I would recommend a Buy-Sell Agreement, putting the business asset into the hands of the most likely successors to run the business and cash into the estate that can then be distributed to the Special Needs Trust.”

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Marcus Murray says it is a mistake to think that a business can provide for a special needs child.

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Marcus L. Murray, a financial advisor and RN with many other credentials, who is with Mass Mutual/Detroit Financial Group in Farmington Hills, says many business owners have done no planning at all, thinking that the business will continue to provide for
their special needs child.“What a mistake! It is important that the Special Needs Trust be drafted to address issues beyond the financial…to address caretaking, lifestyle and so on. It is important that the parents communicate with the trustees, and a long list of successor trustees, what they have in mind for the care of their child. Then they need to fund the need. I usually recommend life insurance because it doesn’t make sense to fund a trust with real dollars if you can buy dollars.”

Murray adds that many legal issues change when the special needs child becomes of legal age. Caregivers, he says, need to be aware of those changes. Finding the “right” trustees and successor trustees and connecting them with the right legal and financial team is the key to the best long-term care for your loved one.

In the end, no one can be sure that the planning they do will yield the intended results. You can be sure that leaving the financial needs of a special needs individual to a business is a mistake. If you, or someone you love, is in this situation, seek the advice of competent legal and financial advisors – it is the best way to achieve your intended results.

Richard Segal is the chair of the Family Business Council, a membership organization of family-owned businesses. He can be reached at RMSegal@aol.com.

This article originally appeared in Corp! September 2007

Tags: Asset Protection, Estate Planning, Personal Management, Special Needs Children by Dan Penning
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Dan Penning Commentary:
The article quoted below from the “North Bay Business Journal” by David E. Stoll sets forth several key elements that must be considered by grape growers and wineries and grape contracts. Careful attention to the elements addressed before the contract is executed will undoubtedly save thousands of dollars of litigation fees and wasted time that usually results from “handshake agreements”. The practice of growers selling grapes to wineries to make wine is on the rise across the country as well as in northern Michigan.

As wineries and grape growers in northern Michigan grow both in number and size, there will be a significant increase in the need for experience with multiple legal issues that will confront various participants in the wine industry. Some of the legal issues that will require a lawyer’s knowledge of wine law to address include state and federal beverage licensing and permitting; financing; land acquisition; construction and design; environmental and natural resources; water rights; employment/worker’s compensation/MIOSHA issues; trademark protection; license agreements; income taxation; business succession and estate planning, and litigation. Wright Penning & Beamer has acquired our northern Michigan location in an effort to provide our legal expertise to assist grape growers, wineries, and distributors in northern Michigan with representation and advice on these issues. All of these issues should be dealt with on a proactive basis to avoid the unforeseen loss of expense, time and possibly the destruction of business itself.

From the North Bay Business Journal:

Wine Law: Understanding the issue of control in grape contracts
DESIGNING AGREEMENTS THAT PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF GROWERS AND BUYERS
Monday, August 11, 2008
BY DAVID E. STOLL

Grape contracts used to be made on a handshake and the reputation of the parties involved. If reduced to writing, they were often limited to one-page letters setting forth the varietal, vineyard source, term and price per ton. As the wine industry continues to mature, growers and buyers are increasingly turning to detailed contracts containing multi-page exhibits on “Viticultural Practices” or “Quality Standards.”

The question is not whether a handshake is better than a ten-page agreement but whether or not the agreement meets your needs. One way to analyze grape contract issues is to focus on control: who controls the viticulture, who decides how much fruit to drop and who decides when to harvest.

The more the grower controls these decisions, the more right the buyer should have to reject grapes that do not meet the agreed-upon standards. However, today buyers are increasingly asking for more control of the viticultural practices and harvest parameters – even the planting or replanting of the vineyard itself. If buyers demand and exercise such control, they should bear responsibility for their decisions.

Focusing on the issue of control, here are some tips:

1) Giving up control can be good for the grower; and taking control can be good for the buyer. The more the buyer dictates viticultural practices and harvest requirements, the less right the buyer should have to reject the grapes. If the buyer has the right to determine the time and date of harvest, then the buyer should bear responsibility for picking too early or picking too late. If the buyer demands that crop loads not exceed four tons per acre, then the grower should ensure that grape prices reflect this limitation. The buyer can also benefit from taking more control. The buyer gains fruit that meets its quality parameters and enhances its ability to plan harvest operations. However, even the best plans and provisions should leave some flexibility for growers to preserve fruit quality and react quickly when required to do so by nature, such as unusual frost conditions, unexpected rains or excessive early heat.

2) Make acceptance criteria as objective as possible. Disputes over payment or rejection of grapes often are framed in terms of quality issues, even if the underlying reasons are economic or market-driven. The more subjective and detailed the quality standards, the more likely a buyer could use these standards as a basis for not accepting delivery, not paying full price or terminating the contract. If a buyer wants to – or needs to – get out of a contract, the buyer will look for grounds to terminate, or claim performance is excused. The tighter and more objective the criteria is in a contract, the less likely such “hooks” can be found to avoid performance or terminate the contract.

3) Have a quick and sensible dispute resolution process in place to avoid disputes at the scale. If the grape contract allows for the buyer to reject grapes at the scale for anything other than purely objective matters, consider designating a mutually agreed upon, independent third party to make a conclusive determination at the time of delivery.

4) Avoid “best efforts” obligations; “commercially reasonable” efforts are better. “Best efforts” can be construed to mean a party must do anything possible, whether commercially reasonable or not.

5) If payment risk is a concern, a grower could shorten payment terms or consider taking a security interest in addition to the automatic statutory growers lien. A security interest perfected under the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) will give the grower the rights of a secured party under the UCC. A security interest would extend to products and proceeds of the grapes, which may not be covered by the statutory growers lien.

6) If the vineyard name will be used on the bottle, include contract provisions to license the vineyard name as a trademark and to allow the grower to exercise quality control. When it comes to the issue of quality control, actual control is what counts. The right to control is not enough. At a minimum, taste the wines each year and keep records of having done so. If the grower wants to maintain a high quality of wine under the name, make sure the grower has the right to terminate the license to use the vineyard name – short of terminating the entire contract – if the grower determines that wine quality is not up to par.

As the wine industry continues to mature, so do relationships between growers and buyers. Care must be taken to ensure that the rights of both growers and buyers are protected. Our wine industry practice is dedicated to helping clients understand changes occurring in this marketplace so they can be prepared to meet these challenges and carefully navigate through evolving contractual arrangements.

About The Author
David E. Stoll is a business transactions and intellectual property partner at Farella Braun + Martel. He advises wineries and vineyard owners on a variety of legal matters, including grape contracts, mergers and acquisitions and consulting arrangements. He also provides strategic advice regarding the use and protection of wine-related trademarks and trade names, including the names of wineries, wine brands, proprietary names and vineyard designations.

Mr. Stoll advises a variety of clients on development, exploitation and protection of intellectual property. His principal areas of focus are technology licensing, intellectual property counseling and trademark and copyright protection. In addition, he also represents start-up and emerging growth companies in connection with corporate and LLC formation, governance and financing strategies, mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategic partnering and technology-sharing arrangements.

Farella Braun + Martel represents clients in sophisticated business transactions and high-stakes commercial, civil and criminal litigation. The firm is known for its imaginative legal solutions and the dynamism and intellectual creativity of the legal staff. The attorneys in each practice group work cohesively in interdisciplinary teams to advance the clients’ objectives in the most effective, coordinated and efficient manner.

Farella Braun + Martel LLP, 235 Montgomery St., San Francisco, CA 94104 • 415-954-4400 • 899 Adams St., St. Helena, CA 94574 • 707-967-4000 • www.fbm.com

Copyright 2008 - North Bay Business Journal
427 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Phone: 707-521-5270 - Fax: 707-521-5269

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Dan A. Penning
Wright Penning & Beamer
Farmington Hills and Suttons Bay, Michigan
231-271-4500

Tags: Agribusiness, Wine Industry by Dan Penning
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Dan Penning Commentary:
The facts and circumstances of the Kennedy case as discussed below in the quoted Detroit Free Press article, represents an oversight and mistake made far too often by divorced individuals who maintain retirement plans. Far too often, divorced individuals do not pay attention to the various beneficiary designations that may be present on their retirement plans. The husband’s divorce attorney in the Kennedy case should have advised his client to remove his ex-wife as the beneficiary of the husband’s retirement account. Based on the fact that the individuals were divorced, no consent form would have been required under federal law for the husband to remove his ex-wife as a beneficiary. Divorced individuals should give particular attention to beneficiary designations, not only on their retirement accounts, but also on life insurance policies and other accounts where a former spouse may remain listed as a beneficiary. It is imperative when a divorced individual is reviewing his or her estate plan, that these beneficiary designations be checked to make sure that the proper designation has been made to avoid the disaster which occurred in the Kennedy case.

From the Detroit Free Press:

Outdated papers ruffle family in case before Supreme Court
Daughter: Dad’s retirement is mine

BY MARK SHERMAN • ASSOCIATED PRESS • October 8, 2008

WASHINGTON — If William Kennedy had updated all his financial paperwork in accordance with his divorce decree, chances are his daughter would not have been at the Supreme Court on Tuesday fighting for the $402,000 she says should be hers.

When Kennedy died in Texas in 2001, his employer, DuPont Co., looked at the form on which he designated the beneficiary of his retirement account and saw the name of his ex-wife, Liv Kennedy.

So, despite divorce papers in which she waived her right to the proceeds from that account and over the objection of her daughter Kari Kennedy, DuPont paid Liv Kennedy the money.

“My father expressly did not want my mother to have another red cent after their divorce was final” in 1994, Kari Kennedy said in an interview. “There’s no doubt in my mind that he wanted me to have everything he had.”

Kari Kennedy, 32, is a social worker who lives in Lumberton, Texas, with her husband and two children.

Her mother sought the divorce and received money, jewelry, furniture and an 11-year-old Mercedes-Benz. The Kennedys were married 22 years. William Kennedy worked for DuPont for 34 years and died three years after he retired.

The dispute over his retirement money ruptured the relationship between mother and daughter, Kari Kennedy said.

“I did reconcile with her, but we never agreed on this point,” she said. Liv Kennedy returned to her native Norway shortly after the divorce and died there last year.

Not for nothing do financial planners and advice columnists urge people to keep their beneficiary designations up-to-date.

The main federal law on employee benefits requires companies to strictly follow their workers’ wishes as reflected in their designations. Spouses are protected from attempts to cut them out of death and retirement benefits.

Divorce papers, by themselves, aren’t always enough to override the earlier designation of a beneficiary.

That is the situation DuPont said it encountered when trying to determine whom to pay after William Kennedy’s death.

“Marital dissolution comes up all the time,” said Mark Levy, DuPont’s lawyer. “Congress wanted bright-line rules that could be easily applied.”

Kari Kennedy, designated by her father to handle his estate upon his death, sued DuPont, and a federal judge found that the waiver Liv Kennedy signed as part of the divorce meant what it said and ordered DuPont to pay William Kennedy’s estate $402,000.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, disagreed with the judge and said DuPont correctly gave the retirement savings to Liv Kennedy because she remained her ex-husband’s designated beneficiary.

The justices appeared sympathetic to Kari Kennedy, but also concerned about tinkering with the rules.

DuPont’s retirement plan says “that if you want to change the beneficiary, here’s how you’ve got to change the beneficiary,” Chief Justice John Roberts said.

“We just have no way of knowing” what William Kennedy intended, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said.

Kari Kennedy said her father made his intentions clear. But she agreed that if he had updated all his forms, “we wouldn’t be here.”

The case is Kennedy v. Plan Administrator, 07-636.

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Dan A. Penning
Wright Penning & Beamer
Farmington Hills and Suttons Bay, Michigan
231-271-4500

Tags: Asset Protection, Estate Planning by Dan Penning
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Michigan Film Discussion Planned for November 5 in Charlevoix
(NORTHERN MICHIGAN | October 27, 2008) – Film producers from all over the United States are looking to Michigan as a prime venue for their upcoming projects, thanks to 40% tax incentives introduced back in April. Securing the projects is just half the battle, however. The success or failure of this program lies within the communities of Michigan who must be able to provide goods and services, with an unparalleled level of expertise, teamwork and communication.

On Wednesday, November 5, a group of concerned individuals with ties to the film industry – known collectively as the Northern Michigan Film & Media Group – is hosting an informational discussion geared toward chambers of commerce, visitor bureaus, economic development organizations, businesses and individuals interested in learning more about the incentives and the potential it provides for Michigan. The session will be held at Stafford’s Weathervane Restaurant in Charlevoix. A social hour for networking will start at 5pm, with a formal round-table discussion and Q&A session starting at 7pm.

Dianna Stampfler, President of Promote Michigan and a Board member of the West Michigan Film Video Alliance, will be the moderator for the evening’s discussion.

“Since the incentives were introduced, everyone is trying to capture a piece of the action and become an expert in the industry,” said Stampfler. “It’s important that Michigan’s businesses, organizations and communities work together to make this industry a viable part of our state’s future economic foundation. I invite anyone who is passionate about Michigan’s future and our growing film industry to attend this session to learn more.”

Some California industry executives have been invited to participate in the session, including George Colburn, a historian and filmmaker, with offices in Petoskey, New Mexico and Washington DC, who will be a featured panelist for the evening.

“It is critical that Northern Michigan start immediately to establish itself by organizing collaborative coalitions of communities, businesses and individuals to showcase their inventory of assets,” Colburn said. “By working together, northern Michigan can soon earn a preferential position with the film industry, and everyone involved can profit from the designation.”

As additional incentives for attendees, Stafford’s Weathervane Restaurant will be offering a dining special for those arriving prior to 7pm; special rates are being offered at the Weathervane Terrace Inn & Suites ($39 for a standard room or $59 for a Lake Michigan Suites). For room reservations and special rates, call (231) 547-9955 and mention that you’re a film industry attendee.

For additional information about the November 5 event, contact (231) 535-2227.

Joe Breidenstein, BIG Marketing Director
(231) 535-2227 / info@springtimesplendor.com
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Dan A. Penning
Wright Penning & Beamer
Farmington Hills and Suttons Bay, Michigan
231-271-4500

Tags: Michigan Film Industry, Suttons Bay Depot by Dan Penning
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