What is a Local product council?

ULI Michigan’s Local Product Council Program aims to provide opportunities for local members in specific land-use disciplines to study issues in depth, share information, and network with Michigan professionals in similar industry sectors. The program is based on selective and committed membership and intensive, high quality programming created to emulate ULI’s National Product Council Program. Jim Bieri currently serves as the Chairman of the ULI Michigan Local Product Council Initiative.

ULI Michigan Local Product Councils:

-Housing & Community Development

• Chair: Doug Brown, ASTI Environmental
• Vice Chair: Richard Burtstein, Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn
• Vice Chair: Tim Loughrin, Robertson Brothers Homes
• Programming Chair: Katy Trudeau, City of Detroit

-Small Scale Development

• Chair: Bill Watch, First Commercial Realty
• Vice Chair: Marty West, Plante Moran
• Vice Chair: Emery Matthews, Real Estate Interest
• Programming Chair: Cathy Clark, CCR Partners LLC

-Real Estate & Technology

• Chair: John Petz, Domino’s Farms
• Vice Chair: Robin Boyle, Wayne State University
• Vice Chair: David Nelson, Nelson Companies
• Programming Chair: Ashley Lesser, NTH Consultants, LTD

Local Product Councils:

• Provide a forum for information exchange on the “state of the art” in the development field
• Develop and maintain an informational and response capability for addressing development problems and opportunities
• Provide an appropriate focus on the major social and economic goals and issues of the day
• Provide input to influence community attitudes and lifestyles regarding development
• Apply research to innovative applications in land use planning
• Seek meaningful ways for all councils to relate to and interact with each other
• Capitalize on the efforts of ULI’s membership to strengthen the Institute’s overall impact

More information:

• The councils are capped at 30 members, members are expected to be active participants and attend all LPC meetings
• All LPC members must hold current membership with ULI
• Prospective Product Council members must submit an application, members are selected and appointed by the Chair of the council and the executive leadership team
• Local Product Councils are governed by members and self-organized
• The council holds meetings 4 times each year, 3 of which are held during existing ULI events
  • The ULI Michigan Spring Real Estate Summit (Spring)
  • The ULI Michigan Annual Meeting (Summer)
  • The ULI Michigan Emerging Trends (Fall)
  • The 4^thmeeting is planned by the council
• The LPC Program is fee based with an annual fee of $100, members are also expected to register for events where meetings will be held

Applications open at the beginning of each year with only a limited number of spaces available on each council. If you have any questions regarding local product councils you can reach out to ULI Michigan staff here.

****2020 Local Product Council Applications are due February 15th, 2020 by 5:00pm. Applicants will be notified of their acceptance by March 31st, 2020. ****