Brigadier General Amy S. Courter has finally earned her star – literally and figuratively. A management consultant by day, Courter's also the interim national commander of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), the all-volunteer auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. With a long history of service in both careers, Courter is one of those rare accomplished professionals who've achieved yet more stardom on the side.
During her 20 year tenure at $1 billion Livonia-based marketing services firm Valassis Communications, Inc., the Kalamazoo College trustee and Crain's Detroit Business "40 Under 40" honoree rose to the rank of VP of technology. She ran a 100 employee IT department, all the while working on the double with CAP.
Parallels have always existed between her alter egos. Courter recalls a conversation with former colleague David Brandon, now CEO of Domino's Pizza. "He used to just press me …. [asking] 18 different ways why I'm involved in CAP. Finally I just said, ' … if I can call someone at 2 A.M. to go out in a snowstorm to look for somebody they've never met, and if I can get them to do that without paying them then I really should be able to lead people to write and develop software and keep the computer systems running at a company where they're getting a salary."
Indicative of her commitment to volunteer life, in 2005 Courter launched her own consultancy, South Lyon-based Amy's Creative Solutions LLC, to have more time flexibility. She recently managed a successful initiative at St. John's Health System that attracted hundreds of new nurses and reduced turnover this past year. "It's been very transformative. We've had an all-green score card in terms of nursing retention improvement," she enthuses.
A community calling
Workdays have never ended at 5 P.M. for Courter. The congenial commander oversees the round-the-clock operations of nearly 57,000 civilian cadets and officers as they carry out missions for an organization credited with saving nearly 100 lives annually. CAP is responsible for cadet training programs; aerospace education; and emergency services, which provides 95% of inland search and rescues as well as assisting in counter-drug operations. In 2006, Michigan's 1,205 volunteers flew 246 sorties and contributed nearly 3,400 air and ground search hours.
Community service is in Courter's roots; her father served in various chambers of commerce and her mother was the town's first female school board member. As a teen, Courter reveled in a law enforcement explorer's group volunteer position, learning emergency services skills and riding along with the deputy sheriff. Criminal justice wasn't in the cards, but CAP was a natural destination for her interests. The Kalamazoo College graduate joined in 1979 and earned her stripes through state and committee leadership; in 2006, she added a star by becoming the first female elected to brigadier general and national vice commander. She'll run for national commander in 2008.
"We've always had a joke that it really only takes a couple hours a week. I think what we were actually saying is it only takes a couple hours of sleep," she laughs. But insight as to why she stays awake to play both games is found in a seven-year old tale of a counter-drug task unexpectedly cut short.
Courter, who was Michigan wing commander at the time, relates, "From the time we leave the airport, our observers are observers, eyes out, looking to see what's happening, even though we're not in the search grid yet. They said, "You know, we have a find over here." That find turned into an eradication of $27 million worth of marijuana plants; CAP's portion cost the taxpayer $42.75 worth of fuel and aircraft maintenance for the 45 minute flight. It was the organization's most notable national counter-drug effort that year and "a key point in Michigan that some people would never relate to CAP – another way of becoming better citizens and helping to serve the communities around us."
One plus three makes four
Splitting your life in two is tough enough, but how about doubling that to four?
Though it may sound a bit psychopathological, Bill Bowen, principal and co-creative director of the graphic and interactive design firm Octane Design, father of two and three-band musician loves all his lives.
In 2000, the ambitious designer partnered with Tom DeMay to purchase the Royal Oak-based Octane Design from its original founders. Bowen talks enthusiastically about how the original print design studio morphed into creating award-winning websites and other interactive media, as well as working with the animation application, Flash. Bowen was particularly proud to add the Henry Ford Museum to the firm's extensive portfolio.
He says his firm, which he plans to grow to 10 or 12 strong, will continue with ahead-of-the-curve design projects for longtime clients like the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitor's Bureau, where "we're combining video and stills with other animation techniques to create an engaging, interactive experience. It sounds like a pretty good goal to me so far .… Sha-bang! So there you go," he finishes with an infectious laugh.
Multiple beats
As a little kid, Bowen did his "drummer boy shtick" on a snare drum. Adolescence meant four hours a day practicing drum rolls and fills in his parent's garage on a $300 vintage 1967 Ludwig Ringo Starr kit, which he still owns today.
After attending Wayne State University, he joined the band 3-D Invisibles in '89 or '90. 17 rockin' years later, the band is still together and tighter than ever. "It’s almost to a point now where you know what the guys are gonna do," Bowen boasts. "There's an unspoken language, I guess, between all of us in a lot of ways, because we've been playing together for so long. We're like a band of brothers." Bowen and his mates Rick Mills and Chris Flanagan's core group has multiplied into two more offshoot bands – any one of which pops up in a few performances a month around Detroit and the Midwest.
In 1994, the band morphed into a surf-based flow called The Volcanos – which included the trio plus Mark Brainerd on bass. Since 1994, they've released two albums of the zingy twisters and a bunch of singles under the Estrus Records indie label.
To date, The 3-D Invisibles has made three albums and oodles of compilations; songs peppered with zombie women, gorilla mummies, and go-go ghosts. The trio plays only once or twice a year, during – guess – Halloween. Recently they donned zombie garb to play Belmont's party. Last year's shindig demanded home-built alien suits and bubble helmets.
The guys' latest venture, The Meltdowns, pours Bill Rowe and his bass into the swirl. One-year young, the band is planning its first recording. It has "a lot of room because we sort of cross over different styles. There's a garage sound. It's still 60s based, but we've tried pulling in other influences. I like The Hives a lot," says Bowen, who adds early British rave to the blend. The guys switch off singing lead and backup vocals, and no matter what the results the band is clearly having a blast.
Bowen bills himself as "…. the backbeat, man; I'm holding them all together." There goes that great laugh again. He explains all the spawning: "….There were certain sorts of genres that were appealing to Rick and Chris and me. It'd be kind of, 'let's do that – let's just go for a pure sound that way'." He credits their growth as musicians to exploration of myriad themes, yet respects stylistic boundaries by imposing the structure employed in – oh yeah – that design life. .