THE REARVIEW MIRROR: STILL PUSHING FOR PROGRESS: COVID-19ʼS IMPACT ON BUSINESS MAYOR DUGGAN FOCUSED ON DETROITERS COMING FIRST WHEN OPPORTUNITIES ARISE
A RACE TO SAVE LIVES: MILESTONE YEAR: MICHIGANʼS ROLE IN VACCINE BUSIEST CONSTRUCTION SEASON DEVELOPMENT AND DISTRIBUTION TO DATE ALONG RIVERFRONT
FROM PANDEMIC TO ENDEMIC: MOTOR CITY REDUX: THE TRANSFORMATION OF WORK AUTOʼS DRIVE FOR A HIGH-TECH IN THE POST-PANDEMIC WORLD FUTURE IS ACCELERATING DETROITʼS REVIVAL
A PUBLICATION OF THE DETROIT REGIONAL CHAMBER JUNE 2021 • US $4
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DETROIT: THE REVITALIZATION CONTINUES
COVER
J U N E 2 0 21 • V O L U M E 113 , I S S U E 2
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STILL PUSHING FOR PROGRESS Mayor Duggan is focused on Detroiters coming first when opportunities arise.
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Executive Summary FROM THE PRESIDENT
Since March 2020, just about every interviewer from local and national media has asked me some version of: “How will the pandemic impact the resurgence of Detroit?” A fair question. Detroit’s revitalization has captured the imagination of people around the world. More than just Detroiters are rooting for Michigan’s signature city. COVID has forced all of us to reevaluate how we interact, where and how we work, and even where we live. As the pandemic loosens its grip on society, it is fair to speculate on what factors and trends will help – or hurt – the continued resurgence of Detroit. Predicting the future with a crisis still fresh is not a good idea. As past crises have taught us, we never change as much as we think we will – and we never change as much as we should. Predicting which pandemic-generated trends will last and which will fade away is challenging. Here are some factors impacting the city’s continued prosperity: Momentum. Our state, region, and city undeniably had real momentum before COVID. Just about every economic metric was positive, some strongly so. That same energy, these same people and companies that fueled that momentum remain – and are ready to get things moving again. Nearly every major development project underway prior to the pandemic is on track today. The new Hudson’s Tower, Gordy Howe International Crossing, Ford’s Michigan Central Train Station, and others barely missed a beat. Setbacks are already being offset. There’s no doubt that the pains of COVID did not fall equally across our society. In recent statewide Chamber polling, 83% reported minor or no negative financial impacts due to the pandemic. Of those who experienced significant financial hardships, persons of color, younger persons, and women suffered the most. There’s work to
do to address those inequities, but there is light. The overall unemployment rate is rapidly approaching pre-pandemic levels and jobs are plentiful. Even Detroit’s vaunted restaurant scene, so devastated by COVID, is coming back to life. A renaissance fueled by private sector success. Setting Detroit on the right path was a collective effort of citizens, civic institutions, government, philanthropy, and the private sector. But sustaining this momentum will rely largely on private industry’s success – their ability to offer good jobs and generate profits that lead to taxes that enable good public services. The good news is that business is good. From the strong performance of our signature auto industry to Rocket Mortgage’s stunning IPO to record profits being reported across multiple industry sectors, the table is set for the private sector to fuel growth post-pandemic. Strong public governance and finances. Under Mayor Duggan’s leadership, our city, once known for bankruptcy and poor management, is now recognized as one that gets the job done – and with a constructive relationship between the leadership of City Council and the Mayor. Additionally, the federal government will be sending $4.5 billion in COVID relief funds to Michigan cities, and given the recent record of good stewardship, Detroit’s portion of these funds are likely to be deployed wisely. A positive future does not mean business as usual. While a majority of signs point toward Detroit’s continued momentum, it does not mean that everything will pick up where they were in March 2020. The changes driven by COVID will continue well into 2022. The City and our businesses will need to adapt to new realities and respond to shifting public behavior and demands.
SANDY K. BARUAH
Given all the dynamics at play, there’s no reason Detroit’s resurgence cannot continue deep into the postpandemic era, but it will not be as easy as dusting off the playbooks we left at the office in March 2020.
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DETROIT REGIONAL CHAMBER
HERE TO HELP MICHIGAN BUSINESSES THRIVE. No matter what stage your business is in, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation is here to help you succeed. By connecting you to the resources your business needs, granting access to necessary capital and introducing you to the right partners, the MEDC helps your business reach new potential. Find out how we can help propel your business forward with customized support at michiganbusiness.org/pure-partnership
DETROIT’S REVITALIZATION:
Over the past 15 months Detroit’s revitalization has continued, but like everything, it’s been reshaped amid the pandemic. As the city prepares to receive $826 million that must be spent by 2024 – the 5th most funding of any city in the nation through the American Rescue Plan – the city sits at another key juncture in its continued resurgence over the next three years.
From 2014 to 2019, over $1 billion in grants have been invested, leveraged, managed and mobilized by the City of Detroit on projects to support residents, businesses, and neighborhoods.1
SOURCES: 1. City of Detroit Office of Development and Grants, 2. City of Detroit 3. EMSI, 4. U.S. Census Quick Facts, 2012
While the city’s made great progress in the past decade and over the past year, there’s widespread acknowledgement that much work remains. It is going to require innovative thinking, collaboration, and intentionality as momentum and development continues. For business, that means an evolving role throughout the city as efforts to create a more prosperous and equitable city accelerate. As the public and private sector gear-up for what offers to be an action-packed few years, it’s worth looking at key projects already underway and highlight some of the people and companies that stand poised to help lead the city through another critical and potentially historic era.
BY THE NUMBERS
Existing regulated affordable housing units in Detroit.2
Number of employees in greater Downtown Detroit.3
Number of minority-owned businesses in the city of Detroit.4
We have a once in a lifetime opportunity because of the American Rescue Plan. We are only behind New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Philadelphia in the amount of money we are receiving and it’s up to us to put it to good use. By and large, we should be building a city that’s inclusive and equitable with this money.” MAYOR MIKE DUGGAN May 25, 2021 American Rescue Plan Act Community Meeting
189 out of 194 Detroit neighborhoods saw their property values increase in 2021 assessments. Since 2019, property values grew over $1 billion.2
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People to Watch
By Karen Dybis
Across the city there are many people whose efforts are contributing to the revitalization underway. This section offers a window into just some of the Detroiters whose innovation, leadership, and talents are adding to the momentum in the Motor City and who are likely going to help create a more vibrant, equitable, and resurgent Detroit post-pandemic.
People to Watch 7
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People to Watch
Mayor Duggan focused on Detroiters coming f irst when oppor tunities arise by Karen Dybis As he jumped onto the podium at the launch of the Joe Louis Greenway project in mid-May, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan came at the announcement the same way he approaches all of his work in the Motor City: Where others see blight, he sees potential. The greenway started as dirt, but when it is finished, the 27.5-mile bike and walkway named after the legendary boxer will connect Detroit to Dearborn, Highland Park, Hamtramck and the riverfront, Duggan said. It took long-term strategy and, most of all, neighbors giving input to develop a vision for what the greenway and the city could be. At a moment when inequality and hardship seem everywhere, Duggan said he continues to see Detroit as a unified place where, with the help of residents, strategic funding and key partnerships, things most see as detriments become Detroit’s greatest strengths. That is why Duggan is seeking a third term as mayor – he knows progress still needs a push. “I was elected, and re-elected, by the Detroiters who stayed, so we’re just going to keep adding layers to our approach to
make sure Detroit residents come first every time a new opportunity comes to our city,” Duggan said. STABILIZING SERVICES AND FINANCES BRINGS SHIFT Duggan’s two terms couldn’t be more different. He has been through the city’s historic municipal bankruptcy, mountains of preexisting mistrust and, toward the end of his second term, a pandemic that hit with a devastating effect threatening the progress and momentum underway. During his first term, “we were focused on restoring basic city services,” Duggan said, like streetlights, ambulances and police response. With Detroit’s services and finances stabilized, “we shifted more to creating opportunity for Detroiters.” That has included building out Detroit At Work to be the city’s employment agency, where thousands of jobs are listed every day, along with free training programs for Detroit residents to get them ready for those opportunities. Duggan’s staff has been landing major employers, and Detroiters are getting a large number of the jobs. Stellantis (formerly FCA) has hired more than 2,000 Detroit residents
People to Watch 9
I was elected, and re-elected, by the Detroiters who stayed, so we’re just going to keep adding layers to our approach to make sure Detroit residents come first every time a new opportunity comes to our city.” for its new assembly plant with more hiring to follow. A supplier, Dakkota Solutions, followed suit. Now, Amazon is rising at the State Fairgrounds and they’ll have 2,000 more jobs, as will GM at Factory Zero. LOOKING TO UPLIFT EVERY DETROIT RESIDENT In addition to job growth, Duggan is looking at safety, healthcare, housing and parks as ways to uplift every Detroiter. “Just recently, we’ve seen that of the first demolition and vacant home stabilization contracts to be awarded under Proposal N, the overwhelming majority have gone to Detroit-based, Black-owned companies,” Duggan added.
BRINGING SUPPORTIVE SERVICES IN NEW WAYS TO MOST IN NEED Another solution he’s trumpeting is known as The People’s Plan, “which is going to bring the supportive services of city government to people in most need in a way they’ve never seen before,” Duggan said. “We are piloting a program called the Community Health Corps (CHC), which works with residents who are experiencing the direst financial hardship to connect them with an entire range of social service programs, financial assistance programs, and employment and job training programs that can help them break the cycle of intergenerational poverty,”
Duggan added. “We are now raising $50 million to greatly expand these services to allow us to reach more people through the CHC and Detroit At Work through programs like Learn to Earn and Get Paid to Learn a Trade.” His greatest pride? In the past five years, Detroit has reduced its population in poverty from 40% to 30%, one of the largest drops of any big city in the nation. “Our goal with The People’s Plan is to lower our poverty rate by another 10 percent over the next five years,” Duggan said. • Karen Dybis is a freelance writer in Metro Detroit.
DETROIT HAS REDUCED ITS P O P U L AT I O N I N POVERTY FROM1
SOURCE: 1. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 1-yer estimates, 2015 and 2019
10 People to Watch
CO-FOUNDER, GILBERT FAMILY FOUNDATION With decades spent in interior design, Jennifer Gilbert has had a hand in creating cutting-edge workplaces and home-furnishings solutions. Thanks to her five children and entrepreneur spouse Dan Gilbert, she also is the heart behind the Gilbert Family Foundation, which seeks to accelerate a cure for neurofibromatosis type 1 and accelerate Detroit’s potential. In March, the couple announced a $500 million investment in the city’s neighborhoods, providing tax relief for residents and creating new opportunities for home ownership.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, DETROIT FUTURE CITY Think-tank leader might not sound like a job that has a direct impact on people, but Anika Goss’s work at Detroit Future City is doing exactly that. Through data-driven strategy and smart resource building, Detroit Future City has outlined ways to address Detroit’s real economic and social issues and create equitable growth in the city. Detroit Future City released in May “The State of Economic Equity in Detroit,” a comprehensive data report outlining the deep disparities and systemic inequality that persist in Detroit and the region, proposing recommendations that will help provide a path to prosperity.
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, WILLIAM DAVIDSON FOUNDATION Social entrepreneurship isn’t just Darin McKeever’s expertise. It is his passion as the leader of the William Davidson Foundation and in his roles on some of Detroit’s most influential organizations. His goal is to boost Southeast Michigan’s cultural, civic and economic health through grants, philanthropy and foundational partnerships. That means putting additional focus on small businesses, job creation and boosting quality of life initiatives, like Midtown’s Cultural Center campus and the Detroit Riverfront, and major grants to other key efforts such as Motown Museum, Design Core Detroit, and the New Economy Initiative.
People to Watch 11
CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, BEDROCK Kofi Bonner has spent his entire career considering the impact of cities, architecture, affordable housing, and, most recently, entertainment centers. He joined Bedrock in August 2020 to lead efforts to take Detroit to new heights through transformative real estate projects, community partnership and a commitment to supporting the city’s small businesses. Bedrock’s most recent purchase of 300 River Place moves the firm onto the storied Detroit riverfront, a space where Detroit and Bedrock are primed to shine.
PRESIDENT, FORD MOTOR COMPANY FUND Few projects have created as much buzz as when Ford Motor Co. announced it would revamp Detroit’s iconic Michigan Central Station. Mary Culler has become the enthusiastic voice behind Ford’s work to bring this 1913 landmark back to life. Her service as developmental director of this massive project has sparked community support and fresh economic life into the Corktown area. Culler’s enthusiasm for the campus and the city as a whole will keep interest high for years to come.
FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, THE ELIA GROUP There’s a reason Zaid Elia named his restaurant group Iconic – that is how he feels about Detroit, its architecture and its restaurant scene. Where others see a building past its prime, Elia sees a landmark ready for revival with purchases of 511 Woodward and Cadillac Tower in recent years. His attention to detail and to developing historic, character-driven properties is shown through The Elia Group, a commercial real estate development and management firm, as well as the Iconic Collection of restaurants including Parc Detroit, Anchor Bar and the Fountain Detroit.
PRINCIPAL OWNER, MEANS GROUP Tracy Means knew her husband, Eric, had a vision when he started Means Group in 1998. His death put Tracy at the forefront of the construction and facilities management company through her commitment to Eric’s legacy. Its key projects include the Metropolitan Building, Cambria Hotel and Highland Park redevelopment. Even with the pandemic, “our focus has remained on the vision my husband had from inception, which was to always create a better place for generations to come,” Means said.
GROUP EXECUTIVE FOR JOBS, ECONOMY AND DETROIT AT WORK, CITY OF DETROIT There’s one word that drives Nicole Sherard-Freeman in her daily work, and that is JOBS. Her goal is to align Detroit’s growing economic development with its current population, making sure Detroiters are in line to gain new skills, boost financial literacy and change their family trees. Sherard-Freeman became Mayor Mike Duggan’s jobs guru in October 2020 and she’s working to make sure no Detroiter is left out of the city’s revival. The Mayor may call it The People’s Plan, but it’s Sherard-Freeman’s mission.
DIGITAL COACH, GOOGLE DETROIT Katrina Turnbow has one core mission: To provide women, people of color, and other underrepresented populations with the education and direction needed to level the digital playing field. In 2017, the founder and CEO of Kanopi Social Digital Marketing became an advocate for Detroit’s small business community as a Google Digital Coach, training hundreds of people how to reach new customers online. That mission continued through COVID as Turnbow focused on helping these same businesses survive, adapt, and grow.
PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, NEW DETROIT From his Northwest Detroit neighborhood to his role as leader for one of Detroit’s most venerable racial-justice nonprofits, Michael S. Rafferty has taken up some of the city’s most challenging issues. That includes the pandemic’s disproportional impact on the Black community, access to vaccines for all socio-economic groups and 2020’s demonstrations against police violence. Through New Detroit, Rafferty is moving conversations about racism toward real solutions and encouraging organizations toward systemic change, education, leadership, and true allyship.
Projects to Watch
21 CENTURY ELECTRIC GRID ST
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FOR THE GREATER GRID
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By James Martinez
Detroit has never been short of big thinkers and entrepreneurs, and many are looking to make their impact in the neighborhoods of the city they love. Throughout the pandemic, the Chamber’s “Detroiters Think Big: A Small Business Podcast,” presented in partnership with Rocket Mortgage, has been showcasing the robust community of small businesses who have reinvented themselves and are preparing for even bigger things post-pandemic.
OWNER, THE KITCHEN BY COOKING WITH QUE After being diagnosed with the autoimmune disease sarcoidosis, Broden turned to cooking and a vegan diet to improve her own health. That led to Detroit’s only demonstration kitchen and culinary shared preparation space on Woodward just south of West Grand Boulevard.
OF BUSINESS IN THE CITY OF DETROIT ARE MINORITY OWNED1
Note: Quotes edited for length and clarity SOURCES: 1. The U.S. Census Bureau, 2012 Economic Census: Survey of Business Owners
“I created a place where vegans and meat eaters could coexist. We can have differences in what we eat, but let me just show everybody how to eat better together. That was our entire mission to show people how to eat to live by introducing more plant-based foods into their everyday life.”
People to Watch 15
FOUNDER AND DIRECTOR, NORWEST GALLERY OF ART
OWNER, RIDETROIT
OWNER, GOOD COOKIES
Her experience as an artist led her to create a platform to showcase artists of color and exhibit their work in the Grandmont Rosedale area she grew up in.
Known best for starting Slow Roll, Hall is leading a new venture, opening the first electric-only bike store in Detroit in Midtown and offering smaller more intimate custom bike tours of the city’s neighborhoods.
Growing up with a relatives in the restaurant industry, Gisstennar turned a family tradition into a small online business opportunity and now plans to open a brick-and-mortar location in North Rosedale.
“Opening the first e-bike only store with a Trek roster in the world in Detroit, we’re getting ahead of (the e-bike trends). Opening a motor bike store in Detroit, the Motor City – it just made sense that this should be our home.”
“I want to have younger folks right in the neighborhood be able to come and work where I can just teach them entrepreneurship. With COVID, we’ve learned so much about entrepreneurship, folks are really geared toward going into business themselves.” •
“I felt like as a Black person in the art community, there wasn’t really a lot of spaces that spoke to me. I wanted to create a platform for artists of color to be able to exhibit their work and have a place where they can start. We have a lot of emerging artists that come to the gallery as a training space.”
16 Projects to Watch
By John Gallagher
As the Detroit skyline evolves, there’s no shortage of projects that are poised to continue to transform the city. These offer just a snapshot of development underway across Detroit.
Explore stories of eight Kresge partners in Detroit and around the country as they work to dismantle structural racism in all its facets through organizing, advocacy, power building and more.
our COMMON PURPOSE 2020 ANNUAL REPORT • RacialJustice.Kresge.org
SCAN TO VISIT SITE
18 Projects to Watch
TRANSFORMATIONAL PROJEC TS AND MORE
about to c hange in a big way By John Gallagher
After a quarter-century of planning and debate, construction on the Gordie Howe International Bridge linking Windsor
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Several transformational projects are in the works that will add significant new structures to Detroit’s landscape. These projects will create new jobs, add new retail and recreational venues, and imprint new postcard images of Detroit on our imagination. Detroit has not seen such a collection of major new skyline projects in half a century.
and Detroit got underway in 2018. By May, structures were rising to form the towering supports for the massive cable-stayed bridge. Built at a cost of more than $5 billion, ION the work will include expansive VAT O NN new custom plazas in both RI O Detroit and Windsor RF and new highway ramps to nearby expressways
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Detroit’s skyline hasn’t seen any big new additions for a generation. That’s about to change.
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on the Detroit end. When opened in a few years to car and truck traffic (and, yes, bicycles, too!), the six-lane, 1.5-mile bridge will facilitate the trade so crucial to the economies of both the United States and Canada.
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State Fairgrounds site. Announcing the project last August, Mayor Mike Duggan said the distribution center will create some 1,200 jobs. The center is one of several that Amazon is building around Southeast Michigan, and the first in Detroit, to fulfill the public’s demand for online shopping.
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25 courtrooms and offices for judges, five hearing rooms, offices for the Wayne County N CE sheriff and prosecutor, as N TIO well as a 160-bed juvenile A M A Z O N D I ST R I B U detention facility. It is scheduled to open next year. Speaking of towering new presences, the As part of the complex jail deal, Bedrock Hudson’s site project has the right to redevelop the former jail being built by businessman and courthouse sites downtown. One Dan Gilbert’s Bedrock real of those projects will be the Detroit estate arm promises to create just Center for Innovation being planned that in the heart of downtown Detroit. by Gilbert and businessman Stephen M. The project is now under construction. Ross in partnership with the University When finished around 2024, the more than of Michigan. Announced in 2019, the $900-million complex is slated to include a futuristic center will rise on several acres 200-plus room hotel, some 150 residences, off Gratiot where Wayne County had 400,000 square feet of office space, 18,000 once started to build its new jail before square feet of retail space, and a 1,200-seat scrapping those plans as part of the new criminal justice complex in Midtown. The event space. $300-million, 190,000-square-foot UM Gilbert’s Bedrock is also shepherding the center will host graduate studies across new Wayne County Criminal Justice multiple technology fields. Center to completion east of I-75 and north of Warren in Detroit’s Midtown Downtown isn’t the only site to see major district. A replacement for the sprawling new construction. Amazon is already collection of jail and courtroom facilities taking job applications for jobs at its new $400-million, 3.8-million square foot long operating on downtown’s east side, the 11-acre project entails a 2,280-bed jail, distribution center at the old Michigan
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Massive structures aren’t the only transformational projects in the works. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy in May broke ground on the final eastside piece of the Detroit RiverWalk, a segment that will cross the once-barren Uniroyal site between Mt. Elliott Park and the MacArthur Bridge. When finished, the link will allow RiverWalk users to go from downtown Detroit to Belle Isle along the waterfront promenade. Meanwhile, the Michigan Department of Transportation plans to raise the sunken I-375 expressway back to grade level and turn it back into a surface street, a nod to modern ideas of walkable urbanism. Finally, work is getting underway on the Joe Louis Greenway, a bike-andpedestrian path that will loop around downtown Detroit. That’s quite a menu of projects sure to redefine the skyline. • John Gallagher is a freelance writer and author in Detroit, and formerly of the Detroit Free Press.
Busiest construction season to date along riverfront The best way to celebrate being voted the #1 riverwalk in America in the USA TODAY 10 Best Readers’ Choice travel awards in February? Kick off the busiest construction year ever. That’s underway now as the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy’s nearly two decades-long transformation of the city’s riverfront marks a pivotal year of milestones in completing its vision of 5.5 miles of revitalized riverfront from the Ambassador Bridge on the west to MacArthur Bridge to Belle Isle in 2021. This graphic captures some of the major developments in the works.
We have a tremendous year ahead and will continue to set the bar even higher as we finish up the East Riverfront and move to the west.” MAT T C U L L EN CHAIR OF THE DETROIT RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY After the RiverWalk was named best in the country by USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice 2021.
Currently known as West Riverfront Park, the 22-acre property will soon begin the transformation into the yearround family-friendly destination known as Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Centennial Park. This park will feature an expansive lawn for special events, a large water feature, a sport house with basketball courts, and the Delta Dental Children’s Play Garden. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy will break ground on the park in the fall of this year with opening expected in 2023.
The Southwest Greenway, formerly referred to as May Creek Greenway, will provide a beautiful getaway and fun, safe and convenient access to the West Riverfront and Wilson Park for residents of Corktown and Southwest Detroit, and for workers in those neighborhoods. The greenway is a little more than a half-mile in length and will run from Vernor near the Ford Mobility Campus all the way to Jefferson Avenue at the riverfront. Construction begins this summer with an anticipated 2022 completion date.
Projects to Watch
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NO. 1 RIVERWALK IN AMERICA IN THE USA TODAY 10 BEST READERS’ CHOICE TRAVEL AWARDS
The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and its partners broke ground in May on the Riverwalk extension along the Uniroyal property. This project is the Conservancy’s final piece of its vision of 3.5 miles of revitalized riverfront along the East Riverfront. Additionally, this project will connect Mt. Elliott Park and Gabriel Richard Park and provide access to Belle Isle. The project is expected to be completed by fall of 2022.
Named after legendary boxer and Detroiter, the Joe Louis Greenway is a proposed 27.5-mile pathway for walkers, joggers, and cyclists. It will connect to existing paths like the Dequindre Cut and the RiverWalk, and provide a safe loop around the city. The greenway will also connect neighborhoods and the cities of Dearborn, Hamtramck, and Highland Park. The Joe Louis Greenway will provide community spaces and outdoor activities for all Detroiters. The first phase of construction is from Warren Avenue to Fullerton Avenue, approximately 3 miles.
With Phase One between Jefferson Avenue and Robert Bradby Drive now complete, contractors with the City of Detroit are working on Phase Two of the Joseph Campau Greenway project, which will extend the path to Vernor. When complete in 2021, this crucial greenway will provide eastside Detroit residents with safe and easy access to the many parks and amenities along the riverfront. The greenway features new benches, lighting, security boxes, and a 10-foot wide pedestrian and bicycle path.
22 Projects to Watch JOHN GALLAGHER
JOHN GALLAGHER
The long-anticipated new Meijer Rivertown Market also got underway in late 2020 and should be ready to open by the end of this year. The 42,000-square-foot Meijer at 1475 E. Jefferson Ave. should create about 60 permanent jobs. The free-standing store, somewhat smaller than Meijer’s normal superstore format, will have 100 parking spaces on land totaling 2.21 acres. Prominent businessman and Chamber Board Member Dennis Archer Jr. is among the partners bringing the project to life.
This educational venture occupies the 53-acre former site of Marygrove College on Detroit’s west side. Partners in the innovative educational endeavor include the Marygrove Conservancy, The Kresge Foundation, the University of Michigan School of Education, the Detroit Public Schools Community District, Starfish Family Services and developer IFF. Some 120 ninth graders arrived in fall 2019 and other pieces of the project are moving ahead. The campus prioritizes students from the surrounding neighborhood. Kresge’s $50 million commitment is the largest by any foundation to a Detroit neighborhood project.
The Henry Ford Cancer Institute at Henry Ford Health System recently opened the new Brigitte Harris Cancer Pavilion in Detroit’s New Center district. Connected to Henry Ford Hospital by the Nancy Vlasic Skywalk over West Grand Boulevard, the new cancer pavilion is designed to serve as a destination for integrated cancer care, featuring specialty clinics for 14 different types of cancer as well as precision medicine, clinical trials, and supportive services.
THE KRESGE FOUNDATION
JOHN GALLAGHER
The $60-million Woodward West project saw construction get underway in late 2020. The project looks to open in 2022, adding another 204 apartments to the Midtown neighborhood. Woodward West will also feature some 25,000 square feet of retail space. The two-acre site is located at Woodward and Stimson Street on the lower end of the Midtown district. Detroit-based developers The Platform LLC and Queen Lillian II LLC are partnering to build the project.
Projects to Watch
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For Detroit residents, this school will be an opportunity to start a lifelong career in the skilled trades, debt-free.” The Sugar Hill Arts District project is a $36.3 million mixed-use development being built on a vacant lot at the northwest corner of John R and Garfield streets near the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center. It is designed to support inclusive growth of the historic Sugar Hill district as a residential, cultural, and commercial enclave in the Midtown area. It will feature 68 apartments, 11,900 square feet of retail, and 164 public parking spaces. Fourteen of the apartments will be set aside as affordable housing targeted to formerly homeless veterans. MICHIGAN STATEWIDE CARPENTARS AND MILLWRIGHTS TRAINING CENTER
The Michigan Statewide Carpenters and Millwrights Joint Apprenticeship and Training Fund is creating its $30-million, 147,000-square-foot training facility in the Oakman Boulevard area on Detroit’s west side. The new seven-acre facility will consolidate training under one roof; currently training is spread around the region. “For Detroit residents, this school will be an opportunity to start a lifelong career in the skilled trades, debt-free,” Mayor Mike Duggan said. “With all of the construction that is coming to Detroit, this school could not come at a better time.”
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24 Projects to Watch UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT MERCY
Jefferson-Chalmers is one of Detroit’s historic neighborhoods, located on the far east side bordering Grosse Pointe Park and the Detroit River. It is one of Mayor Mike Duggan’s priorities in his Strategic Neighborhood Fund, an effort to marshal philanthropic dollars to help selected districts across the city. In May 2019, auto racing legend and Detroit businessman Roger Penske pledged $5 million to the fund to invest in Jefferson-Chalmers. The Penske money is part of growing revitalization work in the district, which is renovating derelict buildings and seeing new housing and retail shops opening.
Located at 2426 Michigan Avenue in the city’s Corktown district, SteelHaus Detroit is using empty shipping containers to create both commercial space and loft apartments. Bridging spaces between the containers allows for an open loft feel, with ceilings of up to 18 feet. Developers Nicole Stopka-Nichols and Chris Nichols hope to have the units ready for move-in in 2022. The project will add another attraction to the rapidly redeveloping area near Ford’s work at the Michigan Central Station.
City officials and developers broke ground last fall on this $6.6-million apartment project in Detroit’s Woodbridge district. The four-story building should be ready for occupancy by 2022. George N’Namdi, owner of the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art in Midtown, partnered with Roderick Hardamon, CEO of URGE Development Group, in the project. The design includes a colorful angular geometry that N’Namdi hopes will spur greater interest in the arts in the district.
STEELHAUS DETROIT
CITY OF DETROIT
In late February, University of Detroit Mercy officials and supporters broke ground on their multi-part campus renovation project. Beginning with a renovation and expansion of the Student Union, the work will see the demolition of the Fisher Administration Center and Reno Hall and include upgrades to academic buildings, administrative space, and residence halls, among much else. Nearly every building on UD Mercy’s campus on Detroit’s west side will be touched. Supporters have pledged some $115 million to the project.
Projects to Watch
25 NORTHPOINT DEVELOPMENT
211 FORT WASHINGTON ASSOCIATES LLC
This 1960s-era office tower, rebranded as the 211 Tower, at Fort and Washington in downtown Detroit was purchased by new owners in 2020. Crain’s Detroit Business reports that the tower is undergoing more than $10 million in renovations to include a cocktail bar, a restaurant, and a café operated by CoffeeHaus. The 28-story building is about 75 percent occupied; it was purchased by a joint venture including Grosse Pointe-based Foster Financial Co. and Tribus, a family office.
This one-time Cadillac stamping plant was purchased by a Missouri-based developer, which is mapping a $50 million rebuild project. With demolition still underway in June, developers plan to raise a new 682,000-square-foot facility to create 450 jobs.. It will be targeted toward automotive suppliers, advanced manufacturing and logistics, light assembly, and warehouse. The site, at 9501 Conner on the city’s east side, should be ready for occupancy around the beginning of 2022.
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By Paul A. Eisenstein
Detroit’s emergence as a tech hub continues as automotive innovates the world into the nextgeneration mobility era. That technology surge, however, is not limited to automotive. This section highlights some of the companies, automotive and beyond, worth watching as the next tech era unfolds in Detroit.
To transport the same amount of energy Line 5 delivers by rail, barge or truck means more traffic, more emissions, more risk and higher fuel costs. Governor Whitmer wants Line 5 shut down with no plan to replace the essential energy it delivers.
Take action at enbridge.com/supportLine5.
28 Companies to Watch 28 Companies to Watch
By Paul A. Eisenstein
By Paul A. Eisenstein
Auto ’s drive for a high-tech future is accelerating Detroit ’s revival Drive down I-75 toward the welcoming beacon of General Motors’ Renaissance Center and you’ll likely spot another key GM facility, an aging factory that was known to locals, until recently, as “the Poletown plant.” These days, it goes by a new name, Factory Zero, and has a very different future in store. In 2018, the giant automaker was set to close the facility, along with two other North American assembly plants. Today, it is the anchor of the automaker’s $27
billion investment in electrified and autonomous vehicles. When a $2.2 billion retooling program is completed this year – the largest such effort in industry history – Factory Zero will begin rolling out the all-new Hummer EV pickup. Over the next few years, it will add a Hummer SUV, as well as the Origin, a completely driverless shuttle that will be put into service by GM’s San Francisco-based autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise. Eventually, 2,200 will work at Factory Zero.
NEW SIGNS OF AUTOMOTIVE LIFE EVERY WEEK One can still find the detritus of an earlier automotive era if you drive around Detroit. The crumbling Packard and Fisher Body plants serve as a reminder of how the industry that helped transform a modestsized Midwestern town into a global powerhouse also left the Motor City to struggle for survival as offices and factories fled for the suburbs. But, seemingly every week, there are new signs of life coming back to Motown. There are certainly some traditional facilities, like Stellantis’ sprawling Mack Detroit Assembly Complex on the East side, which began producing the Jeep
Cherokee in April. As many as 4,500 employees eventually will be hired in at the Mack complex and, as part of a cooperative program with Detroit at Work, many of the company’s new hires are city residents. “Automotive is still the primary source of employment for the state and it needs to play a huge role in the economic engine behind the city’s revival,” stressed Carla Bailo, the CEO of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. That said, “It’s different from what we had in the past,” stressed Bailo, noting that “We need a new talent pipeline like electrical engineers and software programmers.”
FORD ’S RETURN TO DETROIT ROOTS IS TECH AND TALENT DRIVEN Nowhere is that more obvious than in the Corktown neighborhood. Ford, the nation’s second-largest domestic automaker has had a more than century-long relationship with Detroit. Founder Henry Ford inked the deal that created the company along the riverfront and the first Model T “flivvers” rolled out of a plant on Piquette Avenue. When the Renaissance Center was sold in 1996, Ford moved most of its remaining operations to Dearborn. But it is now returning to its roots in a big way, and with a decidedly high-tech spin. The Corktown neighborhood has become a trendy center for “foodies,” and Gen-X and Y have created a solid housing boom
there. But the big transformation underway will see Ford set up a 30-acre campus. The $740-million project will involve a number of Corktown buildings – notably including the abandoned Michigan Central Depot that, for decades served as an unwanted icon of Detroit’s decline. When it reopens in 2022, the grandly restored station will serve as the headquarters for Ford’s Team Edison, and the automaker’s grand push into electrified, autonomous and connected vehicles. A hint of what’s to come rolled out late last year in the form of the long-range, all-electric Ford Mustang Mach-E, earlier this year named North American Utility
30 Companies to Watch
Automotive is still the primary source of employment for the state and it needs to play a huge role in the economic engine behind the city’s revival. That said, it’s different from what we had in the past. We need a new talent pipeline like electrical engineers and software programmers.” Vehicle of the Year. In May, Ford followed with the roll-out of the battery-powered F-150 Lightning pickup which generated nearly 50,000 reservations within just 48 hours of its debut. The ongoing move to Corktown is already paying off, according to Ted Cannis, head of Ford’s commercial vehicle operations. It has clicked in ways that Ford’s older, suburban operations haven’t with the hip younger software specialists and electrical engineers that will be critical to Ford’s future, powering up the automaker’s recruitment efforts.
MOTOWN’S TECH PUSH NOT LIMITED TO TRADITIONAL Traditional automakers aren’t the only ones finding new reason to come to the Motor City. Of the 5,000 people Ford expects will work from Corktown, it estimates fully half will be employed by suppliers like Bosch and other partners such as Detroit’s commercial real estate development company Bedrock. They’re testing autonomous parking technology using Ford Escape SUVs and Bosch electronics at a Bedrock parking garage downtown.
driving spin-off Waymo which hopes to build some of its own autonomous vehicles in Motown.
Other high-tech players stepping into the Detroit scene include Google and its self-
Paul Eisenstein is publisher and editor-in-chief of automotive news site TheDetroitBureau.com.
Overall, the high-tech projects coming into Detroit, whether in Downtown, Corktown, Midtown or in other neighborhoods, offer hope that the city’s long ties to the auto industry are not just in rebound mode but are transforming to reflect the transformation of the auto industry itself. •
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32 Companies to Watch
Originally focused on classic, but low-profit automotive components, such as axles, AAM has been taken a more high-tech turn. It recently received $5 million in funding from the U.S. Dept. of Energy to further develop a low-cost, high-performance electric drive system already being used by several Chinese automakers, including Baojun and SAIC-GM-Wuling.
Waymo is a Google spin-off focused on autonomous and fully driverless vehicles. It has already begun testing its technology in several locations, including Phoenix, and hopes to set up a nationwide ride-sharing network. The company has partnered up with several manufacturers who will supply vehicles such as the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivan assembled in Windsor. The vehicles will be modified with radar, cameras, LIDAR and other sensors, as well as onboard control systems.
Germany’s Bosch manufactures everything from appliances to smart vehicle technology. The company provides a wide range of automotive systems, including the WiFi and sensors that allowed Ford to test automatic parking technology on a modified Escape SUV last year. While a “safety driver” rode along, the goal is to let motorists exit their vehicle, tap a button on their smartphone and let the vehicle park itself – and then later return when the driver wants to leave.
The focus for Airspace Link is drones – more specifically, solutions to help state and local governments use this increasingly important technology. It has teamed up with the Detroit Region Aerotropolis Corp., a two-county publicprivate development program. One key goal is preventing incursions into airspace around airports including Detroit Metro and Willow Run.
Automotive insurance is undergoing rapid technological change, among other things basing pricing on driver behavior. Clearcover now operates in 13 states and its mobile app-based approach has generated high scores from consumers. The company planned to set up a Detroit base but has delayed that due to the pandemic. But it’s working with the Detroit Economic Growth Corp. to begin hiring local employees.
Co-founded by Detroiters Greg Schwartz and Dan Gilbert, the company employs over 1,000 in 14 offices around the world – including Detroit – to conduct transactions in a variety of different fields, with an emphasis on high-end products and collectibles, including sneakers, as well as clothing and electronics.
Founded by the Sidewalk Infrastructure Project, Cavnue is working with partners like Ford’s autonomous affiliate Argo AI, Google, Waymo and others to help redefine urban mobility and roads. Its big project is the development of an autonomous vehicle corridor to connect Detroit with the growing high-tech center in Ann Arbor. A feasibility study is expected to be completed in 2022.
34 Companies to Watch
Dakkota is setting up a new manufacturing operation on the site of the old Kettering High School. The $45-million investment will supply instrument panels and other components to the new Jeep Plant on Detroit’s East Side. The operation is a joint venture of the Rush Group and Canada’s Magna International.
The high-tech giant may be best known for its search engine but it has numerous projects underway in the metro area, including the Fellowship Program. Thirteen Google employees will spend six months working pro bono to develop an affordable housing search tool. Google, along with spinoff Waymo and other autonomous vehicle companies are working to create a self-driving vehicle corridor that will link the Motor City and Ann Arbor, with a feasibility study due in summer 2022.
This minority-owned Tier One supplier produces various modular assemblies for the auto industry, including instrument panels. That’s the classic part of its business, but DMS also has pushed into supply chain and logistics management, an area likely to become even more important in light of the shortages the auto industry has faced with microchips and other critical parts this year. It currently employs 800 but plans to add another 225 as part of a diversification program.
Paul Eisenstein is publisher and editor-in-chief of automotive news site TheDetroitBureau.com.
THE FUTURE IS IN DETROIT
DTE is thankful to be a part of Detroit, which is why we’re committed to
investing in its future. For us, that means more than improving infrastructure in our neighborhoods. It means providing educational opportunities, too, so everyone has a path to success. Because when we keep our promise to the next generation of leaders, Detroit shows even more promise.
36 Membership
Post-pandemic decisions critical to region’s future As Detroit and Michigan try to move beyond COVID-19, the stakes could not be any higher. Numerous policy and appropriations decisions will have an outsized impact on efforts to successfully accelerate our economy. From usage of American Rescue Plan funding to PPE tax relief to voting rights to the debate over shutting down Enbridge’s Line 5 – there has been no shortage of high-profile issues. The Detroit Regional Chamber continues to ramp up its advocacy efforts during these critical times to serve as the voice of business.
Michigan businesses have shown remarkable
Resilient and affordable transmission
resiliency in the face of public health and
of critical energy resources is an
economic challenges. However, it is clear
essential part of Michigan’s supply
from the ongoing labor shortage that a full
chain. Instead of shutting down Line 5,
recovery requires additional solutions. The
all parties should be working together
innovative use of unemployment funds and
on moving The Great Lakes Tunnel
the Work Share program will help incentivize workers back to the workplace and is consistent with the goals of the Chamber’s 100k by Labor Day Back to Work proposal.”
forward to ensure the pristine longterm health of the Great Lakes and our economy.”
The Detroit Regional Chamber will
Throughout this pandemic, small
oppose measures that, on balance,
businesses have paid taxes on
unreasonably impact our members and
the equipment needed to remain
their employees’ ability to exercise
operational at great cost. These bills
the franchise – especially measures
brought Democrats and Republicans
with a disproportionate impact on
together in order to make life-saving
communities of color and those less
PPE more affordable by stopping the
affluent – without providing needed
government from profiting off of the
integrity and security.”
necessity of it.”
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38 Companies to Watch
Featuring
The Detroit Regional Chamber looks forward to gathering
Dennis W. Archer Jr., 2021 Detroit Policy Conference Chairman; Chief Executive Officer, Ignition Media Group and Founding Partner of Archer Corporate Services
Regina Ann Campbell President and Chief Executive Officer, Build Institue
Mike Duggan Mayor, City of Detroit
Garlin Gilchrist II Lieutenant Governor, State of Michigan
Anika Goss Chief Executive Officer, Detroit Future City
Bridget Hurd Vice President, Inclusion and Diversity, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
business, government, and civic leaders for the region’s first major business event. Join us for the Detroit Policy Conference
at
its
new
outdoor venue, the Aretha Franklin Amphitheatre.
Tuesday, July 13 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. $25 Chamber members $50 Future members
Mark Wallace President and Chief Executive Officer Detroit Riverfront Conservatory
REGISTER NOW: detroitchamber.com/dpc
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IN THE
GOOD THINGS ARE HAPPENING TO BUSINESSES THROUGHOUT METRO DETROIT
NEWS
Dickinson Wright PLLC is pleased to announce that the firm has been ranked as the #1 Bond Counsel in Michigan and the
American Society of Employers (ASE), Michigan’s trusted HR partner, recently
announced
its
11th
annual
#5 Bond Counsel in the Midwest in The Bond Buyer’s Midwest Year-End Review.
of commercial banking experience. In an effort to expand into the burgeoning sectors of technology, engineering, and other growing areas of the workforce, Kelly has turned to deal making. The Troybased staffing agency announced that it has
Compensation & Benefits Conference to be
DTE Energy has launched its “‘Tree Trim
acquired Softworld Inc. out of Waltham,
held as a virtual series on Wednesdays at 10
Academy”’ to create 200 high-paying jobs
Massachusetts, for $215 million in an
a.m. throughout the month of June.
in Detroit over the next three years. The
all-cash transaction. The deal makes for a
program will offer new jobs, paid training,
“win-win,” according to Peter Quigley, chief
and wraparound services like child care and
executive officer of Kelly.
Baker
College, Michigan’s largest
private, not-for-profit college and top private transfer school in the state, and Oakland Community
College
(OCC),
transportation. Ford Motor Company expects 40%
Michigan’s largest multi-campus community
of its sales globally to be electric vehicles by
Lake
college, are pleased to announce the
the end of this decade under a new plan
(LMCU) is raising money to help support
signing of an official articulation agreement.
to increase investment in EVs to $30 billion
pediatric care at 13 local hospitals across
The agreement was recently finalized by
through 2025. The automaker announced
Michigan and Florida. Last year, where
Baker College President, Dr. Bart Daig, and
the plans as part of a new “Ford+” initiative
anything was but normal, LMCU members
Dr. Jennifer Berne, OCC Provost.
under Chief Executive Officer Jim Farley
and the community raised over $50,000
ahead of its investor day.
to support health care heroes in the fight
Blue
Cross
Blue
Shield
of
Michigan and Meijer Pharmacy
Howard & Howard
is pleased to
Michigan
Credit
Union
against COVID-19. This year, LMCU hopes to raise $75,000 towards kids’ care, to give
recently announced a regionally focused
announce that attorney Evonne Xu was
collaborative
homebound
selected to Crain’s Detroit Business’ “Notable
individuals and people with disabilities the
Women in Law” 2021. The women featured
MassMutual Great Lakes (MMGL),
COVID-19 vaccine.
were selected by a team of editors based on
a Southfield-based firm offering a wide
their career accomplishments, track record
range of financial products and services,
of success in the field, contributions to their
is pleased to announce a strategic alliance
community, and mentorship of others.
with Detroit-based First Independence Bank
to
offer
Butzel Long attorney and shareholder James S. Rosenfeld is one of 20 attorneys named to Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s “Go- To Lawyers for Employment Law.”
George
“Trip”
Maghielse
has
their communities’ little heroes, big hope.
(FIB), the only African American-owned bank headquartered in Michigan and the
The program honors leading lawyers in a
joined Independent Bank as a
particular field of law as nominated by their
commercial banker in the Southeast
peers. Attorneys will be profiled in a special
Michigan market. He most recently
Miller
section of Michigan Lawyers Weekly.
served as a commercial banker for TCF/
Johnston’s election to serve as the new Chair
Chemical Bank and has over 20 years
of the Managing Directors for the firm.
seventh largest in the country. Canfield
celebrates
Amy
Oakland Community College’s
Education (A4EOE) Faculty Member of
met with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to discuss
Economic and Workforce Development
the Year. The award recognizes faculty
a range of topics including Michigan’s
department is offering a new training
who use innovative, engaging teaching
vision to attract new business, create jobs,
program for an in-demand health care
methods using technology to enhance
repair infrastructure, and position Michigan
career as a sterile processing technician.
learning, retention, and the overall student
as a high-tech industry and manufacturing
experience.
hub.
world of business aviation services, recently
UHY LLP welcomed two full member firms,
Several Wayne State University
announced that Kevin Housner has joined
United for Auditing, Tax & Financial Services
School of Medicine faculty members
the company as Director of Health, Safety &
and Waled Mounir and Muhammad
and Wayne Health, the school’s academic
Environmental (HS&E).
Arafa, expanding the global accountancy
faculty practice, were named 2021 Health
network’s coverage within the Middle East.
Care Heroes by Crain’s Detroit Business.
Pentastar Aviation, a leader in the
Plunkett Cooney partner Dennis G. Cowan was recently appointed to the board
Wacker
Chemical
Corporation
of directors of the Oakland Community
(WWC) President and CEO, David Wilhoit,
Health Network (OCHN). His three-year term is through March 31, 2024. Plunkett Cooney announced Attorney Ryan P. Bourjaily as the newest member of the law firm’s Trust & Estates Practice Group. Bourjaily focuses his career on practice litigating probate, trust and estate matters. He represents a range of clients in claims involving alleged breach of fiduciary duty, undue influence, lack of mental capacity, fiduciary removal and surcharge, as well as will and trust contests. Quicken Loans, a linchpin of the Detroitbased Rock Cos. portfolio, will officially change its name to Rocket Mortgage on July 31, the company recently announced. Dave and
Schippers, chair
information
of
professor
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private funding, Detroit at Work offers residents and employers a simplified brand to serve as the umbrella for all City of Detroit workforce development efforts. DESC oversees eight (8) Detroit Michigan Works! One-Stop Service Centers and contracts with qualified entities to provide workforce development services to job seekers and employers. Locally, the Michigan Works! One-Stop Service Centers are branded as Detroit at Work Career Centers. Metro Detroit Black Business Alliance Charity Dean 1234 Washington Blvd Detroit, MI 48226 313.632.9232 www.mdbba.com Our mission is to develop programs and advocate for policies that result in profitable and sustainable Black-Owned Businesses that are connected to public and private economic opportunities while building trusted relationships. Resolute Educational Solutions Phillip Caldwell II 440 Burroughs Street, Suite 160 Detroit, MI 48202 734.707.1126 www.resolutions.com Resolute Educational Solutions serves as a premier thought partner providing a broad range of technical assistance and educational services for our clients to improve equity and promote justice. By engaging key stakeholders
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KEN HORN
KYRA BOLDEN
S TATE SENATOR (R - FR ANKENMUTH)
How do you think the federal funding from the American Rescue Plan can be best used in Michigan?
REPRESENTATIVE
POST-PANDEMIC MICHIGAN
In my role as chair of the Economic and Small Business Development Committee, we’re focused like a laser beam on addressing workforce and talent development needs. This COVID crisis magnified the issue of finding a skilled workforce. My intent is to use the federal dollars to overcome capital constraints to workforce and talent development whether it be lack of equipment, outdated technologies, accessibility and affordability of workforce housing or proper training for the future needs of the economy.
What is the key to positioning Michigan’s economy for success as we navigate the prolonged pandemic? Three things – We need to incentivize jobs focused on mobility, we need to train our workforce accordingly and we need to turn the eyes of the world this way to show that Michigan continues to lead in the autonomous vehicle and electrification industry. There is no better place to design, test, and build those vehicles. My top funding priorities to achieve these goals are the Going PRO Talent Fund, Michigan Reconnect, and Pure Michigan.
What steps do we need to take to ensure Michigan is better prepared for the next pandemic or public health crisis? Now that we’re coming to the tail end of this crisis, it’s important for the administration and the Legislature to work closely together to implement rules that we can all understand and abide by. I have a bill that would define, from the grassroots level, when we are beginning to see the potential outbreak of an epidemic and then an exit strategy to bring predictability for our people and our economy. I hope to work with my colleagues and the administration to see this through. Ken Horn is a Republican representing Michigan’s 32nd Senate District.
(D - SOUTHFIELD) How do you think the federal funding from the American Rescue Plan can be best used in Michigan?
The most important thing that the American Rescue Plan does is that it eases the financial burdens on individuals, families, tenants, landlords, and state, local, and tribal governments. By putting money in hands of individuals, increasing SNAP benefits, expanding childcare assistance, and helping renters with past due bills we will stabilize the economic free fall that families have endured the past 14 months and continue stimulating an economy depressed by COVID-19.
What is the key to positioning Michigan’s economy for success as we navigate the prolonged pandemic? Women have been especially hard hit by this pandemic because it required working moms take on the extra jobs of teacher, principal, and tutor. By continuing to invest in a safe return to school and making full-time childcare more affordable, women shut out of the economy can finally be given the opportunity to rejoin the workforce. By making once-in-a-generation investments in schools and childcare through the ARP, we can ensure that working parents can fully engage in Michigan’s economic recovery.
What steps do we need to take to ensure Michigan is better prepared for the next pandemic or public health crisis? One step is to focus on how racial disparities in public health manifested during this pandemic. Through the work of the COVID-19 Task Force on Racial Disparities, we can ensure our healthcare system supports Michiganders of color, by increasing access to telehealth services and enrolling more people in affordable, quality health insurance plans. There’s also work to be done in medical training, which is why I worked alongside Governor Whitmer to pass rules requiring implicit bias training for healthcare professionals. Kyra Bolden is a Democrat representing Michigan’s 35th House District.
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