Detroit Renaissance leaders offer economic turnaround plan
May 3, 2007
Metro Detroit’s business and civic leadership offered an 11-point program Thursday for turning around the region’s sluggish economy.
Implementation of the three-year program is estimated to cost $70 million to $80 million in up-front expenses and $5 million to $10 million annually. Of the up-front costs, about $50 million would support six accelerators, or entrepreneurial centers, that nurture small, commonly high-tech, firms. Four of those centers already operate – Tech Town and NextEnergy in Detroit, Ann Arbor Spark in Washtenaw County and Automation Alley in Oakland County. Two new ones to be established include accelerators in Macomb and Wayne counties.
Headed up by the corporate leadership group Detroit Renaissance, the coalition’s wide-ranging program includes backing for new loan programs for entrepreneurs to establishing a creative corridor along Woodward Avenue to lure and support musicians, filmmakers, artists and designers.
Other strategies include building support for an Aerotropolis, or airport city, in the land between Metro Airport and Willow Run airports; and establishing a Mobility Community Leadership Cooperative to market southeast Michigan as the best business climate for any mobility-industry enterprise.
Proposals also included creation of a “Dnewsbureau” to promote positive stories in the media about metro Detroit.
“This is an exciting day for southeast Michigan,” Detroit Renaissance President Doug Rothwell said in prepared remarks. “The business plans developed by the ‘Road to Renaissance’ task forces, which consisted of industry and subject experts in each respective area, show what needs to be done to achieve true economic transformation in the region.”
Rothwell said the money would be raised from a combination of state and federal grants, foundation grants and other private sources. Some commitments for money are close to being finalized and will be announced soon, he said.
While some of the suggestions have been voiced before, Thursday’s announcement marked the first time that all have been pulled together in a single document backed by a coalition of business and civic groups, including the Detroit Regional Chamber and the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Contact JOHN GALLAGHER at jgallagher@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
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