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November/December 2016 11 & MORE…HOW THEY'RE DO "BUSINESS AS USUAL" I nside Great Lakes Hotel Supply Co., there's a wall that divides the Southfi eld, Mich.-based, business into two. On one side sits the traditional dealership founded by President Marc Israel's great uncle, Al Siegal, in 1933. And the other houses Israel's baby, a posh all-inclusive 9,500-square- foot event space, fully equipped with a state-of-the-art test kitchen, full-time executive chef and event coordinator, wait staff and enough glitz and glam to host a number of lav- ish catered events. From that has sprouted cooking classes, "Chopped" challenges for corporate team building, multiple community service outreach projects, and the opportunity to serve as the offi cial test kitchen for Detroit Free Press food writer Susan Selasky. Israel calls it the Great Lakes Culinary Center—a crazed leap of faith (or sheer genius, depending on who you ask) that's leapfrogged into a successful upstart and elevated the Great Lakes brand in ways the third-generation owner never imag- ined when he christened the concept three years ago. "In the past, a large segment of the local business community may not have ever known who Great Lakes was without the increased exposure we get from the Culinary Center," he says. "It's actu- ally exceeded my vision and expanded our market presence in ways that Great Lakes Hotel Supply could not." Israel may be on to something, per multiple examples he quickly rattles off about the spill over from the buzz surround- ing the Culinary Center. Quite a few local chefs have become customers after participating in charity events held at Great Lakes, and restaurateurs—that just happen to be in attendance for a private party or social function—are venturing over to the other side, giving Israel an opportunity to connect. While hosting a 150-person event for a local Detroit busi- ness magazine, he explains, a member of the wait staff over- heard one of the guests say he owns a restaurant. He tells him, "We sell restaurant equipment on the other side of that wall," and grabs me. "I introduced myself," says Israel, "and he had no idea who Great Lakes Hotel Supply was. (At the time, he was working with a competitor). I asked if he had a few minutes and intro- duced him to my design team. Showed him our 3D-module capabilities and a couple of our designs. He gave us the design order that day and we redesigned his entire kitchen." Early on, that's what the head of Great Lakes had envisioned as he tossed about the concept, hoping to break through his own wall of sorts. The grind was becoming, well, a grind, he says. The Internet was huffi ng and puffi ng and threatening to topple over the foundation the traditional dealer had built. Customers were demanding bigger, better and faster, and Israel's gut was telling him that a massive shakeup promis- ing something shiny, new and more functional was the only appropriate response. Change, he also reasoned, should coincide with a fresh start, which at the time was the dealership's pending move from continued on page 12 The Great Lakes Culinary Center