Kurt Nagl
Kurt Nagl connects manufacturing, trade policy and the business of law, focusing on how political decisions and market forces play out in factories, law firms and local economies. He covers the automotive industry's transition to electrification, the impact on the supply base and what it means for the state, alongside detailed reporting on law firms and their business strategies at Crain's Detroit Business.
Auto suppliers, tariffs and trade agreements
Trade rules and tariffs are a central thread in Nagl’s coverage of the automotive supply base.
In his reporting on auto suppliers pushing for renewal of the USMCA as tariffs jolt business, he zeroes in on how cross-border rules shape pricing, investment and day-to-day operations for manufacturers supplying large automakers. He follows that line through stories on an auto supplier’s split with its CFO, tying corporate leadership changes to uncertainty around tariffs and a Canadian consul’s warning that tariff policy is hurting U.S. credibility with trading partners. When he reports on an auto supplier hosting Donald Trump during a UAW strike, he frames the visit around the company’s warning that a rapid EV shift could put it out of business, blending political theater with the hard realities facing engine and parts suppliers. Across these pieces, he treats trade agreements, tariff schedules and campaign stops as operating conditions for suppliers, not abstractions, and reports out the financial and employment stakes in plain terms.
EV transition, automation and manufacturing labor
Nagl covers the EV transition as a long, uneven restructuring of the auto industry rather than a simple technology swap. In a piece on mounting auto industry layoffs in Michigan, he shows how EV-related retooling and demand shifts are translating directly into job losses, emphasizing the rocky path from combustion engines to batteries.
His story on the auto industry’s “robot shopping spree” looks at manufacturers’ heavy spending on automation and asks whether those investments are paying off, connecting robotics deployments to ongoing labor shortages and productivity pressures on the shop floor.
He reports on automotive suppliers competing for workers as new plants near production, detailing how wage offers, training programs and facility openings are reshaping the labor market around those factories. In coverage of Black automotive suppliers looking for inroads during the industry transition, he highlights ownership, access to contracts and capital, and how policy and corporate procurement decisions affect who benefits from the shift to EVs.
The through-line is the workforce: his manufacturing stories return to hiring, layoffs, skills and opportunity as the measure of whether industrial change is working.
Law firms, offices and the business of law
Beyond manufacturing, Nagl devotes significant attention to the business of law, especially how firms use office moves and real estate decisions to compete for talent and clients.
His report on Goodman Acker’s new office space focuses on the firm “leveling up” its environment to attract top attorneys, treating design, amenities and location as strategic tools rather than cosmetic upgrades. In a story on one of the Renaissance Center’s first tenants departing for a new headquarters, he traces the implications of a major law firm’s move for both the firm’s growth plans and a landmark office complex losing a long-standing occupant. He frequently groups these moves with coverage of other law firms expanding or consolidating space, showing a pattern of the legal sector investing in modern offices and using physical presence as a competitive signal. His law coverage is grounded in deals, square footage and staffing, making clear how professional services firms behave like businesses with real estate portfolios and profit targets.
Local economies, transportation and civic change
Nagl often situates his beat inside broader stories about local economies, heritage districts and infrastructure projects.
In coverage of Greektown families fighting to preserve heritage as the business district evolves, he reports on how long-standing stakeholders respond to new development, balancing cultural identity against commercial pressures. His story on the Detroit Lions’ success bringing a second windfall to downtown businesses follows bar owners and retailers through game days, using lines out the door and sales spikes to show how sports performance cascades into revenue for nearby enterprises.
When he reports on megasite developers hit with an environmental violation at a proposed multibillion-dollar project, he details the regulatory findings and community protest, showing how environmental compliance and local opposition can slow or reshape large-scale industrial plans. In a Crain’s Forum package on how to improve transit right now, including an opinion piece on how small transit investments can produce more successes, he examines concrete steps to upgrade regional transportation and the economic payoff those improvements can deliver.
Interviews with executives, such as his conversation with a Harley-Davidson engineering leader whose career was reshaped by embracing her identity, add a personal dimension to these themes by tying corporate trajectories to individual stories.
International reporting and political context
Before focusing on manufacturing and law, Nagl built experience reporting from Iraq and China and for multiple publications in Michigan, covering conflict zones, refugees and local crises. His past work includes reporting from Kurdish frontlines in the war against ISIS, documenting the refugee crisis and war atrocities in northern Iraq, and covering the Flint water crisis in its early stages with written, photo and video packages. He has also covered a U.S. presidential election with a focus on minority communities, as well as a range of local beats from police to education. That background in conflict, public health and electoral politics informs his present coverage, where international trade rules, union strikes, environmental enforcement and transit funding are treated as political structures shaping outcomes for suppliers, law firms and neighborhoods.
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