Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/751848
November/December 2016 13 The outdoor organic garden at the Great Lakes Culinary Center was the fi nal piece of the puzzle in creating an inviting indoor-outdoor event space, says President Marc Israel. In addition to an array of fl owering blooms, the garden has 25 raised beds brimming with a variety of vegetables—tomatoes, jalapenos, red peppers, different kinds of lettuce. All of it is accessible to Great Lakes employ- ees during any time of the day. "People can go out there and pick a lunch if they want to," says Israel, who also uses the space for community outreach. "My No. 1 reason for doing it was to give back to the community," he says. "We bring underprivileged kids here and let them spend time with the gardener. They pick vegetables to make their own salads, and then our executive chef takes them into the kitchen and helps them prepare a lunch, like a grilled chicken salad. That's my way of giving back to the community and tying all of the pieces together." it gives them instant credibility. The ability to the dealership and possibly become a customer." Branching Out As expected, it took a little time for the fi re to spread but after two years in, the Culinary Center broke even and fi nally began to make a profi t in its third—so much so that Israel was able to offer his full-time executive chef and event coor- dinator a stake in the business. They run the day-to-day while he focuses on the dealership. "We hired a professional marketing company for a three-month period, and they connected us with different media outlets throughout the city," he says. "Once the word got out, everything just mushroomed." Literally. Since the upward trend, the dealership has added a COO, a CFO, and a small outside sales force to handle the surge. "Detroit is exploding; it's really on the comeback and the Culinary Center is a great tool for our salespeople." says Israel, who estimates that equipment sales, alone, have increased by as much as $6 million since its opening. "A piece of equipment like a Southbend TruVection, or the latest combi…explaining the features and benefi ts of energy-saving equipment…those are hard sales until someone gets to see how they work," he adds. "We dedicated an entire room to dishwashing. We have a Power Soak sink in there, a ventless dishwasher. These are things some of our prospects didn't know existed, so once our salespeople bring them in, they get instant credibility and the dialogue begins." continued on page 14 President Marc Israel On working with designer Karen Beauregard. "When I met with her, she had all of these crazy ideas and before I left the meeting I told her, 'Don't tell me what you're going to do, just do it.' I didn't know what it was going to look like but I knew that it was going to be something that no one had ever seen before and that's what I wanted."