Detroit Regional Chamber Mackinac Policy Conference Executive Summary

Executive Summary

Proud Executive Summary Sponsor:

July 8, 2016 Once again, the Mackinac Policy Conference has presented a wealth of issues and concepts. Advancing entrepreneurship, strengthening the support structure that nurtures innovation, and improving the educational performance of our public schools are critical to the state’s future success.

With all that in mind, it’s important to remember that the need to focus on STEM education has not diminished. Yes, we must educate more engineers and technologists. We also must ensure that those we rely on – electricians, plumbers, carpenters, steel workers, HVAC engineers and the like – the people who build, connect, and fix things, are abundant, motivated, and fully able to perform these tasks.

The growing construction opportunities alone are reason to cultivate a strong skilled labor force. According to Driving Opportunity in Detroit, the report published by JP Morgan in 2015, the construction industry in the Detroit region, which lost more than 9,000 jobs between 2008 and 2013, is on the rebound.

The report highlights more than $4 billion in infrastructure projects in the pipeline, comprising 13 new projects such as the M-1 Rail system (newly named the Q-Line) along Woodward Avenue, the Detroit River International Crossing (expected to create 10,000 to 15,000 construction jobs in Michigan and Ontario) and District Detroit (expected to create more than 8,000 construction-related jobs). Upgrades to roads, sewer systems, water supply and energy infrastructure, as well as demolition of abandoned homes and industrial buildings also will increase demand.

Those jobs need to be filled with capable, skilled workers – those who have a high school credential and sufficient postsecondary training. As the Detroit region continues to rebuild, it will need a capable workforce to sustain its recovery.

ITC will continue to promote STEM education throughout its operational footprint. We’ll also continue our collaborative planning approach with the state and key stakeholders as we proceed with our work to strengthen the power transmission grid in Michigan and the greater region.

Joseph L. Welch Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, ITC Holdings Corp.; Chair, 2013 Mackinac Policy Conference

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Table of Contents Michigan’s Center Stage.......................................................................................................... 4 Continuing the Conversation................................................................................................... 5 Michigan Must Seize Chance to Be Mobility Leader: Dan Ammann.................................... 6 Detroit Comeback is Spreading, Threatened by Chaos in Schools........................................ 8 Trump is Just Tip of the Iceberg, Disruption and Demand for Change Will Continue: Ron Fournier............................................................................................................................ 10 Think Big, Take Risks, Impact World in Positive Way: Dan Gilbert......................................... 12 Don’t Be Afraid to Fail, Keep Swimming: Daymond John..................................................... 14 Don’t Fear the Future; Shape It: Brian David Johnson........................................................... 16 Let’s Write State’s Next Chapter as ‘One Michigan’: Gov. Rick Snyder......................................... 18 Detroit: An Opportunity for Inclusion and Economic Prosperity............................................ 20 Government and Philanthropy Working Together to Help Flint Recover and Rise................ 22 The Convergence of Auto and Tech: Adapting Michigan’s Economy Amid Unprecedented Change.......................................................................................................... 24 Value of Defense: Protecting and Growing Michigan’s Assets.............................................. 25 The Internet of Things: Opportunities and Obstacles in a Connected World........................ 26 Quality Schools: Building a Sustainable Funding Model for Education................................. 27 Looking Ahead: National Politics and the 2016 Presidential Election.................................... 28 MICHauto Roundtable Puts Spotlight on Mobility................................................................. 30 Mackinac Moments................................................................................................................ 31 Underwater Drone Maker Wins Pitch Mackinac Contest...................................................... 32 News and Notes...................................................................................................................... 33 Thank You Sponsors................................................................................................................ 34 2016 Conference At a Glance................................................................................................. 35

A Look Ahead The Detroit Regional Chamber 2017 Mackinac Policy Conference will be held on

T U E S D AY

F R I D AY

May 30 - June 2 Registration will open in fall 2016.

Island hotels will begin accepting reservations February 2017.

Conference planning will be led by 2017 Conference Chair Stephen Polk, President and CEO of Highgate LLC. Go to: mpc.detroitchamber.com for Conference announcements.

Executive Summary • 3

M I C H I G A N ’ S

“Shark Tank” co-host and FUBU founder Daymond John delivers a powerful keynote address on betting on yourself and not being afraid to fail.

(Left to right) W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Joe Scantlebury, The Kresge Foundation’s Rip Rapson, Cascade Engineering’s Kenyatta Brame, and PNC Bank’s Richard DeVore discuss investing in early childhood education in a panel moderated by Bridge Magazine’s Chastity Pratt Dawsey.

(Left to right) Dennis W. Archer PLLC’s Dennis Archer Sr. and Walbridge’s John Rakolta Jr. discuss voter anger and issues facing Michigan in the presidential election with former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr. and Starfish Media Group’s Soledad O’Brien. The discussion was moderated by WDIV’s Devin Scillian.

Center Stage The 36th annual Mackinac Policy Conference brought together more than 1,700 statewide leaders for candid and engaging conversations about what is needed to continue Michigan’s resurgent economic growth. This year’s agenda focused on the pillars of entrepreneurship, urban education and investing in the future by supporting highgrowth industries such as automotive, defense and IT. Featuring a lineup of 13 national speakers and Michigan’s top political and business leaders, the Conference again served as the state’s premier policy event. Programming challenged Michigan’s leadership to continue the state’s momentum by rethinking our future and doubling down on the industries that position us for success as the new mobility and Internet of Things (IoT) era begins. The Conference also touched on the importance of investing in education to reverse Michigan’s education decline, committing to an inclusive Detroit as the 50th anniversary of 1967 approaches, and the national political landscape heading into the presidential election.

Four days of candid conversation on and off the stage concluded with the annual To-Do List to translate words into action for the upcoming year.

2016 CONFERENCE

Leadership

Dennis Archer Jr.

President, Archer Corporate Services; CEO, Ignition Media Group; Chair, 2016 Mackinac Policy Conference

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Sandy Baruah

President and CEO, Detroit Regional Chamber

Mark Davidoff

Michigan Managing Partner, Deloitte LLP; Chair, Detroit Regional Chamber Board of Directors

Chamber CEO Sandy Baruah (center) outlines the Conference To-Do List with Detroit Public Television’s Christy McDonald and Conference Chair Dennis Archer Jr.

Continuing the Conversation

2016 CONFERENCE ACTION ITEMS

In order to ensure that the conversation continues off the island, the Chamber continued its tradition of releasing a To-Do List for the upcoming year based on dialogue from the Conference. In unveiling this year’s list, Archer Corporate Services’ President and 2016 Conference Chair Dennis Archer Jr. and Chamber CEO Sandy Baruah closed the event during a broadcast on Detroit Public Television with Christy McDonald.

2016 To-Do List

Key Takeaways Addressing the Flint water and Detroit Public Schools crises will take bipartisan leadership and cohesion toward common goals built on statewide collaboration as “One Michigan.”

A long-term commitment to education reform is needed to address the struggles of Detroit Public Schools and to ensure that all of Michigan’s students receive a quality, 21st century education.

Society is experiencing unprecedented change, requiring people to adapt quicker than the institutions they rely on such as government, religion and media. People need to adopt a new mindset about the future they want – then take action to achieve it.

Building on its automotive, defense and manufacturing sectors, Michigan is poised to thrive in the new mobility era. Michigan must seize the moment by leveraging its assets and creating the policy and infrastructure needed to succeed while nurturing a collaborative culture.

The viability of Detroit requires an intentional effort by the business community toward inclusion.

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Support the establishment of the American Center for Mobility at Willow Run. Help the state of Michigan develop and execute a strategy to protect and grow our valuable defense assets.

Continue to support an economically inclusive Detroit by promoting education access, options, and attainment as well as to continue to promote financial literacy.

Advocate for robust infrastructure investment in our basic utilities and assets.

Executive Summary • 5

MICHIGAN MUST SEIZE CHANCE TO BE MOBILITY LEADER:

Dan Ammann

General Motors President Dan Ammann says his company aims to “define the future of personal mobility” in connectivity and car and ride-sharing.

And Michigan, as the birthplace of the U.S. automobile industry, should be leading the charge alongside its car companies and supply base, Ammann said in a keynote address.

“Michigan has a great opportunity to lead – an opportunity that it must seize,” Ammann declared. “We encourage the state to take necessary steps to create the environment that fosters the growth of this new transportation model.”

He cited legislation introduced recently by state Sen. Mike Kowall (R-White Lake) that would allow use of driverless cars on Michigan roads, and also authorize use of a former GM plant at Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti for a proposed American Center for Mobility project. At the conclusion of the Conference, the Chamber announced that it included supporting the center as part of the To-Do List.

“This bill could be a game-changer for Michigan,” Ammann said. “We would love to set up the pilot programs needed to develop autonomous vehicles and hasten public availability, and make autonomous a reality sooner than later. Michigan

needs to foster innovation … We can do it here first, and we should do it here first.”

GM, Ammann noted, pioneered connected-vehicle technology 20 years ago with the launch of OnStar, and has since handled more than 1 billion consumer requests via the telematics system. By 2020, GM expects 75 percent of its worldwide vehicle sales to be connected.

This year, GM announced three new mobility-related deals: •

Creation of the new Maven car-sharing service in January with an Ann Arbor launch;

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A $500-million investment in Lyft, a California-based ridehailing service;

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And the acquisition of Cruise Automation, a three-yearold startup in San Francisco with autonomous driving technology.

Studies show that by 2030 about half the vehicles sold will be highly autonomous, and perhaps up to 20 percent will be fully autonomous with no driver intervention required.

“With Maven, Lyft and Cruise Automation, we think we have all the pieces of the puzzle necessary to be successful” in the dynamic urban mobility space, Ammann said, which is focused now on congested urban areas.

The Detroit News’ Daniel Howes converses with General Motors President Dan Ammann about GM’s leadership in mobility and connected vehicle technology.

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There’s also an opportunity cost to time spent driving, and an inherent safety hazard if the driver is fiddling with a phone or other device while driving.

Between driverless technology and the sharing business model, Ammann said, a better, safer experience is available to people at a lower cost.

“We have a long history together, GM and Detroit and Michigan. We have changed the world once already for the better over the last 100 years – and we believe that we can do it again, together,” Ammann said.

Biography DAN AMMANN

President, General Motors

Drawing on the pillar of investing in the future, General Motors President Dan Ammann’s keynote encouraged leaders to seize opportunity and create an environment that fosters growth in next-generation mobility.

GM could have sat back and waited to see which new mobility approaches catch on first, but “we’ve decided not to do that,” Ammann said. “It’s not because we’re looking at our competitors and seeing what they’re doing, but because we see our customers asking for something different than what they have.”

GM’s business model for the past 100 years was to sell cars to individuals, hope they’d have a great experience and come back a few years later and buy again. That will continue to happen for a long time in many areas.

“But there will be a rapidly growing group of consumers telling us they want something different – because the cost of ownership is too high, the hassle of ownership is too high, and this is why you’re seeing change in behavior, adoption of ride-share and so on, particularly in urban environments,” Ammann said.

The average car is used only 5 percent of the time, he added – and sitting somewhere, depreciating, 95 percent of the time, which can cost the owner $1,000 a month in some big cities.

Dan Ammann is president of General Motors.

He is responsible for managing the company’s business operations around the world, the global Chevrolet and Cadillac brands, global product planning, new business development and GM Financial.

Ammann previously served as executive vice president and chief financial officer, where he led a transformation of GM’s finance operations. He also led the strategy to rebuild the company’s captive finance capability through the establishment and growth of GM Financial. Ammann joined the company in 2010 as vice president of finance and treasurer and was appointed chairman of the board of Shanghai General Motors, GM’s largest Chinese joint venture, in 2014.

Key Takeaways Michigan can solidify its leadership in autonomous vehicles by passing new laws to speed creation and testing here.

Urban consumers demand new mobility options due to rising costs and hassle of car ownership.

GM believes that half of vehicles on roadways will be highly autonomous by 2030.

Executive Summary • 7

DETROIT COMEBACK IS SPREADING, THREATENED BY CHAOS IN SCHOOLS:

Mayor Mike Duggan

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan’s passionate keynote address ignited the most enthusiastic standing ovation of the 2016 Conference, even though it failed to sway the Republican majority in Michigan’s House of Representatives to adopt a Detroit schools rescue plan that the mayor favored.

Make no mistake, though, Duggan is clearly committed now to what he acknowledged is a politically risky hands-on fight to resolve the “chaos” in Detroit Public Schools (DPS) that he said is impeding the city’s recovery.

“Bringing back the riverfront and all the houses and all the buildings in Detroit isn’t going to mean a damn thing if we leave the children behind,” Duggan said to rousing applause at the end of his speech.

Duggan began his remarks with a question – “How do we rebuild Detroit into a vibrant city with a recovery that provides opportunity for everyone?” – and then presented a step-by-step seven-part answer.

Blight removal came first.

“Until you get rid of the blight you can’t have any vision for the city,” Duggan said, rattling off data on the accelerating pace of demolitions and showing before-and-after photos of savable homes that have been renovated. “Families are moving in and re-occupying these neighborhoods,” he declared. “The comeback is spreading.”

Highlighting unique Detroit advantages, he mentioned riverfront development efforts and the QLine streetcar line.

And he touted the Motor City Match program as evidence of a resurgent culture of entrepreneurship in the city.

Jobs are still too scarce, but the numbers are better than two years ago, he said, citing moves by Ally and Fifth Third banks into downtown offices, while auto suppliers Sakthi and Flex-N-Gate are adding manufacturing jobs on Detroit’s southwest and east sides.

Housing options across all income levels are included in new construction plans. “I’m 57 years old and population

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has dropped every single year I’ve been alive,” Duggan said.

“That’s changing right now.”

As an example of increasing opportunities for young people in Detroit, the mayor thanked the Detroit Regional Chamber for administering and supporting the Detroit Promise (formerly the Detroit Scholarship Fund). Funded by the Michigan Education Excellence Foundation, it is a scholarship program that guarantees a tuition-free pathway to an associate degree for any student who lives in the city and graduates from a Detroit school. Duggan said the scholarship provides a viable pathway to higher education for some who may have not been able to afford it.

Biography MIKE DUGGAN Mayor, City of Detroit

Conference attendees listen to Mayor Mike Duggan’s keynote address from Michigan’s Center Stage.

Mike Duggan is mayor of Detroit. Duggan is perhaps the area’s most successful turnaround specialist, having rescued Wayne County’s finances, the SMART regional bus system and the Detroit Medical Center from financial collapse. Since taking office, Mayor Duggan has spearheaded efforts to tackle key challenges facing Detroit, including a strategy to address the city’s ongoing blight problem, the establishment of a Department of Neighborhoods office in each of the seven city council districts, and the improvement of city lighting and EMS response times. Prior to becoming mayor, Duggan served as deputy executive for Wayne County, overseeing 14 straight balanced budgets and a fully-funded pension system.

Key Takeaways Detroit is on the verge of ending its 65-year population exodus.

Blight removal and job growth is gaining momentum in the city.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan highlights the progress being made to remove blight and increase the city’s population during a keynote address.

During the speech, he talked about a mother who had just learned about the scholarship and said, “I have four children.

I didn’t know how I was going to send them to school. But now, because I’m in Detroit, I know at least two years of their college is paid for. I love this city.”

Only when he approached the conclusion of his address did Duggan’s tone turn somber.

The current schools structure in Detroit – with 46,000 students in DPS, 34,000 in charters and 27,000 Detroit kids opting for schools of choice in suburban districts – “has no chance,” Duggan said. And the numbers prove it, from plummeting test scores to plunging enrollment.

Despite progress, DPS chaos is stealing kids’ future and jeopardizing long-term comeback.

DPS has lost half its enrollment in the past seven years, dropping from 87,877 in 2009 to 46,331 last year. “We are stealing these children’s future,” he said. “And it feels like outside of Detroit, nobody cares.”

Duggan pushed hard for a bipartisan rescue plan for Detroit schools – supported by the Chamber, Business Leaders for Michigan, and initially Gov. Rick Snyder – that would provide more funding and a Detroit Education Commission appointed by the mayor and governor, which would have power over selecting school sites and setting performance standards. But a House plan backed by some charter school advocates – and opposed by all Detroit legislators – did not include the DEC.

Executive Summary • 9

TRUMP IS JUST TIP OF THE ICEBERG, DISRUPTION AND DEMAND FOR CHANGE WILL CONTINUE:

Ron Fournier

Buckle up, folks: Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders are just the beginning of a watershed moment of massive change in our political and social institutions – disruption that is only going to continue.

Fournier, 53, was born in 1963, the year President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. He was a little tyke through the rest of the turbulent 1960s. He is convinced that today is different.

Ron Fournier, native Detroiter and now senior political columnist for the National Journal in Washington, D.C., quickly got the attention of attendees with that proclamation in his keynote address.

Globalization, Google and iPhones have hurled us into a world where we must adapt much faster than the institutions that served us for so long. The result: widespread dissatisfaction with the status quo.

Why does America’s election season seem so crazy this year?

Think about the upheaval today in government, religion, media and politics.

“The answer is change,” Fournier said. “We’re living in a period of unprecedented change, of enormous change … in the way we live and work and perform economically that creates all kinds of anxiety in our society.”

“The institutions that are supposed to be holding us together, lifting us up, keeping us from falling down, they can’t adapt as quickly as we are being forced to change. They just can’t,” Fournier said. “And if they’re not adapting, we start losing faith in them.”

National Journal’s Ron Fournier delivers a keynote address on the national political scene and how public frustration is fueling the 2016 election.

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The public approval rating of the U.S. Congress, he said, is “worse than lice.” And Donald Trump, he predicted, “is just the beginning of political unrest.”

Fournier also predicted that the aftermath of all this disruption, could be a renewed civic engagement; a “new kind of politics for a new kind of people.” He went on to define the attributes of the 21st century person: purposedriven, globally connected, boot-strapping optimists who are pragmatic consensus building who expect choice.

Millennials, who just this year surpassed baby boomers as America’s largest living generation, have come of age amid these changes. They will therefore take profoundly different approaches to life decisions than their parents, said Fournier, whose two daughters now live in the Detroit area.

Millennials, he said, are very purpose-driven, but do not see government as an effective avenue for change.

“This is the first civic generation that, while they want to do good, they don’t see government and politics as a way to make the world better,” he said. “So what are they doing? They’re involved in social entrepreneurship in an amazing way. They’re working outside government to create innovative and measurable successful solutions to the nation’s problems.”

Rather than civic engagement via traditional paths such as politics or mass movements, Fournier suggested that selfreliant, networked individuals will rebuild failed institutions “in a different form for a different time.”

In closing, Fournier said that he and his wife, also a University of Detroit grad, expect to leave Washington and return to the Detroit area in the next year or so.

“I’m proud of what I’ve done,” he added, “but I’m tired of documenting the dysfunction. I’m tired of the senseless fighting and ego stroking, and I’m ready to be more than just an observer. I want to get into the arena, do something purpose-driven.”

In conclusion, Fournier said he hoped to return to the Conference next year, not as a guest but as “a member of the family. Because of all of you, I think Detroit’s best days are still ahead of us.”

Biography RON FOURNIER

Senior Political Columnist, National Journal Ron Fournier is an award-winning and nationallyacclaimed senior political columnist and editorial director of the National Journal. He is known for his hard-hitting reporting on Congress, the White House, and both major political parties. Fournier is a 20-year veteran of the Associated Press, where he covered the administrations of former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush before being named Washington bureau chief.

He is the co-author of The New York Times bestselling book, “Applebee’s America: How Successful Political, Business and Religious Leaders Connect with the New American Community.” His book, “Love That Boy: What Two Presidents, Eight Road Trips, and My Son Taught Me About a Parent’s Expectations,” was released in 2016. He has won numerous awards, including the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award and the prestigious White House Correspondents’ Association Merriman Smith Memorial Award.

Key Takeaways Donald Trump is just the beginning of political unrest at a time of massive change that will continue until political and social institutions adapt.

The aftermath of all this disruption could be a renewed civic engagement, a “new kind of politics for a new kind of people.”

Millennials are purpose driven, but do not see government as a way to make the world better, pursuing other avenues such as social entrepreneurship.

Executive Summary • 11

THINK BIG, TAKE RISKS, IMPACT WORLD IN POSITIVE WAY:

Dan Gilbert

Dan Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures, employer of 15,000 and buyer of 95 properties in downtown Detroit, owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, co-captain of a blight removal crusade in Detroit, had never attended a Mackinac Policy Conference – until this year.

“I’ve been wanting to come for six, seven years, but I manage my kids’ baseball teams, and we were always coming into playoff season. That was the only reason,” said Gilbert in a one-on-one conversation with Conference Chair Dennis Archer Jr. After another light moment when Archer asked him something about Donald Trump – “his hair distracts me when he’s talking,” Gilbert quipped – they got right to the point.

“What,” Archer asked, “caused you to double down and commit to Detroit? Did you lead with the heart? Or see a good investment opportunity? What moved you to do all that you’ve done?”

Gilbert, who moved Quicken downtown from its suburban Livonia base six years ago, said his leases were due to expire.

“We had the good fortune to build a company that had a lot of people in it,” Gilbert said. He chose not to extend leases at multiple locations in the suburbs, opting instead to “come downtown and not only hopefully do well down there but maybe impact things, make a difference. We felt we could do more than just drive down and leave every day. We did want to make sure we led with the heart and not just the brain.”

“Not everyone,” Archer noted, “can buy one, two, three, four, 95 buildings …”

Gilbert said an abundance of office buildings were available at a time when young, talented people were yearning to work in the urban core, rather than suburbs, as the economy was rebounding.

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“If you look at anything about this generation, whether it’s in Detroit, New York or Chicago, overwhelmingly they want to be in urban cores. Period. It starts and ends with that,” Gilbert said. “If you don’t have the young people interested in becoming part of impacting the city, looking at their future being here, you have an old Western town façade, like in the movies.”

Since moving downtown, Quicken has led a movement – followed by a host of other Detroit employers – to hire many interns each summer.

This summer, Quicken and its affiliated companies, will hire 1,300 interns from 207 colleges. They’ve received 20,000 applications.

“They all just want to come to Detroit,” Gilbert said. “There’s nobody who gets here who isn’t seduced by Detroit.

Whether they come from Harvard or Yale or UCLA or Iowa or Michigan or Michigan State. They believe they can impact things from day one. That becomes literally a selling point to get them and keep them.”

Quicken’s move has injected more people and energy into the city core – and been followed by downtown expansions of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, several banks and accounting firms and the Ilitch family commitment to a new hockey arena and adjoining development projects a few blocks to the north.

But Gilbert said there’s much more potential, and need, for further investment in Detroit.

“There are still only 10 to 12 substantial private sector investors in the city now,” Gilbert said. “If we could get 100 or 200 of them …,” he added, leaving the sentence unfinished.

The potential, in Gilbert’s mind anyway, is mind-boggling.

“We’ve got to think big,” he said, reflecting on all the cranes filling the sky recently in Toronto, where his Cavaliers were playing the Raptors in the NBA playoffs. Toronto’s a cold weather city, too.

“We need to build stuff,” he said. “We’ve got to start thinking big in this city, get risk-taking back in, get capital back in, get some big ideas going. It starts with somebody who has a thought, dream, vision. When you’re in an urban core, the connectivity is so much better than when things are spread out.”

Can it really happen? After six decades of decline and shrinkage, can Detroit really become an explosive growth phenomenon?

Gilbert’s biggest fear seems to be uncertainty in the local mindset.

“We’ve got to have a little more pride … People are more optimistic about Detroit outside than inside the city,” he said.

“We’re going in the right direction,” he added. “Why would you want to die with money in the bank? Use it to create.

Why not impact the world in the most positive way, and get everybody on board?

“Every city is different, but this could be a very, very special place, with the optimism and hope of young people. The main thing is optimism in the environment that we need to develop. Detroit needs to go on the offense and think big. If we do, I think you’ll be shocked.”

Biography DAN GILBERT

Founder and Chairman, Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures Dan Gilbert is founder and chairman of Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s second largest mortgage lender. He is also founder and chairman of Rock Ventures LLC, the umbrella entity for his portfolio of business and real estate investments, and majority owner of the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers.

Additionally, Gilbert is co-founder of Bedrock Detroit, a full-service real estate firm specializing in purchasing, leasing, financing, developing and managing commercial space in downtown Detroit.

He has invested more than $2.2 billion to purchase and renovate more than 95 commercial properties accounting for more than 15 million square feet in the city’s urban core. Gilbert also founded JACK Entertainment, a developer and owner of urban casinos in downtown Cleveland, Cincinnati and Baltimore.

Key Takeaways Young people want to be seduced by the urban core; so let’s woo them.

Detroit has done wonders with only 10 or 12 major investors; what if we had 100? Think BIG!

(Left to right) Quicken Loans’ Dan Gilbert tells 2016 Conference Chair Dennis Archer Jr. that Detroiters must think big and take risks to move the city forward.

We must start thinking big in this city, get risk-taking back in, get capital back in, get some big ideas going.

Executive Summary • 13

DON’T BE AFRAID TO FAIL, KEEP SWIMMING:

Daymond John

Hip-hop entrepreneur Daymond John, at first glance, didn’t seem like a natural fit with the establishment Conference crowd at the historic Grand Hotel.

But that was exactly the point.

His message as a keynote speaker was spot-on for a state of Michigan that was knocked to the canvas by the Great Recession; for cities of Flint and Detroit fighting through crises of lead-tainted water and failing schools; and for any aspiring entrepreneur who has been turned down for loans time after time.

John, founder of the clothing brand FUBU (“For Us, By Us”) and co-host of the ABC hit television show “Shark Tank,” shared stories of his improbable journey to fame and fortune from a single-parent home in Hollis, Queens, New York.

From those stories, he shared five tips that he called his “Shark Points:” (1) Set a goal and stick with it; (2) Do your homework; (3) Love what you do; (4) Remember your brand and be able to describe yourself in five words; and (5) Keep swimming.

John was born in 1969 to an African-American mother and a father from Trinidad. When his dad left the family, at age 10, John was man of the house.

He sold pencils to schoolmates and passed out flyers for $2.25 an hour at the Colosseum Mall.

From watching TV as a kid, he thought of entrepreneurs and bosses as “nasty people, like J.R. Ewing” from “Dallas”. But the shop owners at Colosseum gave him clothes to sell on consignment.

“There’s an old saying that it takes a village to raise a man.

I say it takes a village to raise an entrepreneur,” John said.

He found his calling as a teenager, with the emergence of hiphop stars Run-D.M.C. and LL Cool J from his neighborhood.

“In the hip-hop world, I didn’t dance, sing or produce music,” John said.

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But he was observant. As a teen at concerts in the 1980s, before cell phones and the internet, he noticed the crowd had adopted “the uniform of hip-hop,” distinctive clothing, and he remembers thinking, “Who sent the memo?”

He came up with the FUBU name, saw that wool hats with tops off and tied with fishing line were popular, sewed about 90 of them with a friend, sold them at the Colosseum for about half the price of other brands, and made $800 in a day.

A retail star was born. His mother took out a $100,000 mortgage on their Queens house. John enlisted friends as partners, ultimately talking old neighborhood buddy and rap star LL Cool J to wear the brand in some music videos. By the late 1990s, FUBU annual sales reached more than $350 million. In 2009 he started co-hosting “Shark Tank,” where he and four other business executives listen to pitches for money from aspiring entrepreneurs.

In his Mackinac keynote, John praised Michigan business leaders for trying to attract and nurture more startups in the state.

Biography DAYMOND JOHN

CEO and Founder, FUBU; Co-host, “Shark Tank” Daymond John is CEO and founder of the urban apparel brand, FUBU (“For Us By Us”). He is also co-host of the ABC entrepreneurial business show, “Shark Tank.” As one of the “sharks,” John and four other prominent executives listen to business pitches from everyday people hoping to launch their company or product. Investing his own money, John partners with the entrepreneurs on the show to help turn their dreams into a reality.

Known for his savvy entrepreneurial expertise, John is the author of “Display of Power: How FUBU Changed a World of Fashion, Branding and Lifestyle,” and “The Brand Within: How We Brand Ourselves, From Birth to the Boardroom.” A third book, “The Power of Broke: How Empty Pockets, a Tight Budget, and a Hunger for Success Can Become Your Greatest Competitive Advantage,” was released in 2016. In it, John shares his advice for entrepreneurs on how to think more creatively and efficiently, market ideas and connect with customers.

“Shark Tank” co-host and FUBU founder Daymond John tells Conference attendees to “just keep swimming” in the face of adversity as part of his “Shark Points” for entrepreneurial success.

“What I do notice about Michigan is that no one in the D says, ‘I’m out.’ You have a lot of people here who dedicate themselves to the community.”

One theme he hit on repeatedly was the importance of branding oneself: “Remember, YOU are the brand,” he said, advising his audience to keep the main message simple – between two and five words.

With the tip to “keep swimming,” John shared a couple examples of churning forward, no matter what size the waves or how strong the current against.

When he and friends went to a retail trade show in Las Vegas, they had no entry badges and snuck in, then wrote $300,000 worth of orders for FUBU clothes that they had no production system to make them. But somehow they did.

And financing? “Twenty-seven banks turned me down,” John said.

Key Takeaways Run through walls and do not take no for an answer.

You are the brand. Keep the message simple and be able to describe yourself in five words or less.

Entrepreneurs fail 99 percent of the time, but the one time they succeed, they drive it all the way home.

Ultimately, life boils down to a series of pitches. “You are always pitching,” he said, “whether it’s to your children, or your boss. You have to master the pitch.”

“Entrepreneurs fail 99 percent of the time,” he said in summing up, “but the one time that we succeed, we drive it all the way home.”

Executive Summary • 15

DON’T FEAR THE FUTURE; SHAPE IT:

Brian David Johnson

(Left to right) Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon discusses what the future might look like in Michigan with former Intel futurist Brian David Johnson.

For a guy who makes his living as a futurist, Brian David Johnson seems oddly reluctant to make predictions.

“Everybody asks me when the robots are going rise up and take over,” Johnson said in his opening keynote speech.

“And I tell them, ‘They’re not.’ People will build the future.”

Johnson, who was Intel’s futurist for 14 years, is now futurist in residence at Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination, and a consultant for global research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Clearly aiming to prod the crowd of Michigan business and civic leaders into thinking boldly about the region’s future, Johnson said, “I’m going to push you. You came to this beautiful island because you care. The future happens when passionate people get together and have conversations and take action to get there.”

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“People will build the future,” he added. “We get to decide what future we want, and what future we want to avoid. We are only constrained by the limits of our imagination.”

While not invoking “The Jetsons” or the “Beam me up, Scotty” magic of “Star Trek,” Johnson did marvel a bit at the speed of technology and the impact it is having on we earthlings.

“Amazing things are happening that are really cool,” he said.

“We’re starting to have real artificial intelligence.”

The age of sentient tools, aware and perceptive, is upon us.

As as we look beyond 2020, computational power will move out of today’s devices – mobile phones, tablets – and into the things around us. By 2025, we will look at smart cities on the rise, according to Johnson.

This may seem like whiz-bang stuff to the baby boomers, but not to their children and grandchildren. “Millennials have no knowledge of pre-internet,” Johnson said. “If a building has no Wi-Fi, it’s broken to them – and they just leave.”

But just because humans expect more from our tools in the future does not mean we should, or will, surrender responsibility for what happens next. Johnson believes that in many ways, the future will look quite like the past. It is what we know, and we do not want to suddenly change it into a sci-fi freak show.

In a question-and-answer session with Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon after his speech, Johnson said major changes in the future need not spring from information technology, but may also come from sectors where Michigan is already a leader – such as agriculture or supply chain management.

“I have a thing about Silicon Valley. It’s all well and good,” he said, “but you can’t eat an app. You can’t actually climb into an app that will drive you around. From an investment standpoint, there needs to be a rebalance.”

So how do we change the future for the better? “We change the story that people tell themselves,” Johnson said.

Amid all the advances in artificial intelligence, robotics, autonomous vehicles and smart cities, leaders must adapt a new mindset about what is possible.

Biography BRIAN DAVID JOHNSON

Futurist in Residence, Center for Science and the Imagination, Arizona State University; Former Futurist, Intel Corp.

Brian David Johnson is the futurist in residence at Arizona State University’s Center for Science and the Imagination. As a futurist, he works with organizations to develop an actionable 10-15 year vision and what it will feel like to live in the future.

His work is called futurecasting, using ethnographic field studies, technology research, cultural history, trend data, global interviews and even science fiction to provide a pragmatic roadmap of the future.

As an applied futurist, Johnson has worked with governments, militaries, trade organizations, startups and multinational corporations to not only help envision their future but specify the steps needed to get there. He was appointed first futurist ever at the Intel Corp. in 2009, where he worked for over a decade helping to design over 2 billion microprocessors. Johnson holds over 30 patents and is the author of both science fiction and fact books (“Humanity in the Machine,” “21st Century Robot,” “Vintage Tomorrows” and “Science Fiction Prototyping”).

“The future is built by acts of people,” he said. “What we need to be asking is, ‘What is the future we want? and ‘What is the future we want to avoid?’”

“If you don’t push yourself to think of something far greater than what we have today, than we will never get there,” he said. “Define what you want to get done and how to accomplish it and you will change the future of Michigan.”

Key Takeaways The future is not something that just happens to us, we have the power to shape it.

Educational advances require a shift in culture that values both STEM education and the arts.

“Smart cities” will intensify competition among regions for talent and investment.

Arizona State University’s futurist in residence, Brian David Johnson, encourages state leaders to dream for a positive future in Michigan and take actionable steps to achieve it.

Executive Summary • 17

LET’S WRITE STATE’S NEXT CHAPTER AS ‘ONE MICHIGAN’:

Gov. Rick Snyder

Gov. Rick Snyder used his keynote address near the conclusion of the Conference to look ahead toward the future, urging attendees to overcome divisions, find solutions and write the state’s next chapter together, as “One Michigan.”

The keynote came amid Flint’s water crisis, a fractious partisan split over how to address Detroit Public Schools, and an alarming statewide skid in educational performance.

A day after delivering the welcome from the mainstage, he exhorted the state’s citizenry to rally around “one Michigan” to tackle existing problems, even as he reminded attendees that the state’s economy is faring markedly better than when he took office in 2011.

“This is not about what government can do,” Snyder said.

“This is not about what our education system can do. This is not about what any single industry can do. This is about what 10 million people can do when they have a common vision.”

(Left to right) WOOD TV’s Rick Albin converses with Gov. Rick Snyder on how the state can overcome divisions and work together as “One Michigan.”

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Spelling out key priorities to address, Snyder cited underground infrastructure and education, which he had mentioned in his State of the State speech a few months ago, and added a third commission to focus on the 21st century economy.

“A commission by itself isn’t the answer. The real point is to have a focused dialogue, a bipartisan dialogue, a broadfaced dialogue. It’s not about politics, but it’s about common sense and people talking about an area where we can write those chapters,” said Snyder, who kicked off his speech by thanking Chamber President Sandy Baruah and 2016 Conference Chair Dennis Archer Jr. for using the Conference as a forum for solutions instead of problems.

A key goal on the economic front is to make a transition from being the leader in the automotive industry to the leader in the “mobility industry,” he said. And indeed, there were several different speeches, panels and a private CEO dinner at Mackinac delving into strategies for doing just that,

including Snyder’s announcement of “Planet M.” The new campaign is designed to assert Michigan’s position as the global mobility leader under the tagline “Michigan. Where Big Ideas in Mobility Are Born.”

Looking forward, the Governor said, “We’re helping set Michigan’s foundation for the next five, 15, 50 years. That’s what you should be really proud of. Not every generation, not every group of people get a chance to do that.

Snyder also pointed out that the Detroit region is a tremendous value, offering world-class engineering, technical and design talent as well as a heavy concentration of global manufacturing suppliers — with a cost-of-living much lower than in Europe, Japan or major U.S. cities on the east or west coasts.

We’re at our very best when we are ‘One Michigan.’ That’s when we’re one great state. That’s the opportunity. That’s the tone we can set. Let’s go do it together,” he added.

Overall, Snyder said, Michigan’s economic performance has shown steady progress, adding more than 461,000 private sector jobs since he took office in 2011, as the jobless rate dipped from 11 percent then to 4.8 percent.

To help people who are still jobless or underemployed, the Governor said the state should expand Community Ventures and Rising Tide programs that help communities establish new career opportunities for residents.

He was also encouraged by promising discussions at the Conference about moving forward with regional transit – both rail and rapid bus systems, including the release of the Regional Transit Authority master plan during the week.

On the Conference’s final day, the Governor joined Baruah and Archer in unveiling this year’s To-Do List, marking his third appearance on the mainstage at the Conference.

Biography RICK SNYDER

Governor, State of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder became Michigan’s 48th governor in 2011 and was re-elected in 2014. In his first term, the state passed four balanced budgets, eliminated a $1.5 billion deficit and reformed burdensome tax and regulatory codes as Michigan created over 300,000 private sector jobs. Among his greatest achievements, Gov. Snyder built a bipartisan coalition of Michiganders to ensure Detroit exited bankruptcy successfully. He also successfully implemented Healthy Michigan, an innovative and bipartisan plan that has provided affordable and quality health care for more than 500,000 hard-working Michiganders.

Key Takeaways Michiganders must unite to tackle problems and maintain “comeback state” momentum.

Automotive industry speeds transition to Michigan’s mobility leadership.

The Detroit region is one of the greatest values on the globe.

Executive Summary • 19

Detroit:

AN OPPORTUNITY FOR INCLUSION AND ECONOMIC PROSPERITY Nearly a half-century after being torn asunder in the 1967 riots, Detroit is now on the verge of growing again for the first time since the 1950s – but still hampered by economic inequality and lack of inclusion.

At this year’s Conference, the Chamber hosted the Detroit Historical Society (DHS) to highlight the Detroit 67 Project (D67) – an effort that draws on the lessons of the civil unrest of 1967 to inform the community-wide dialogue about how to continue the Detroit region’s progress moving forward.

The project looks back from 1917 to present and forward 50 years in order to understand the events leading up to July 1967, where we are today, and efforts that are moving Detroit forward. The project will commemorate the events of 1967 but also engage the community in a thoughtful discussion while providing opportunities to get involved.

“Rather than simply let this important time in our history pass or just be a troubling reminder of a tragic event, we can use it as a catalyst to engage, reflect and provide opportunities to take collective action to move our community forward,” DHS executive director and CEO Bob Bury wrote in a piece in the May Detroiter magazine.

Partnering with DHS fulfilled the 2015 Mackinac Policy Conference To-Do List item to promote the ethos of “doing well by doing good” and feature a civic organization helping to make Michigan a better place to live and work. As part of that effort, the Chamber created the mainstage panel, “Detroit: An Opportunity for Inclusion and Economic Prosperity.” The Chamber also provided space at Grand Hotel for DHS and D67 to share information with attendees about the initiative and raise awareness about the effort.

At the Conference, the Chamber partnered with the Detroit Historical Society’s Detroit 67 project to create a forwardlooking panel of business and community leaders who explored steps Detroit can take to move forward inclusively so that all groups in the city can thrive.

Detroit today is experiencing “the best of times and the worst of times,” said Rev. Wendell Anthony, president of the NAACP-Detroit. “There has been progress,” he said, “but we’re still not quite there yet.”

Great things are happening in the city core, Anthony noted.

“However, the real test of the viability of our city is the inclusiveness of all its citizens,” he said. “You can’t build a moat around downtown or midtown. You have to build a bridge.”

Soledad O’Brien, CEO of Starfish Media Group and former host of CNN’s “Race in America” specials, was moderator of the inclusion panel, a Mackinac Moment presenter and a participant in another session on national politics. Issues of race and class, she said, continue to permeate the political dialogue in both Detroit and the country as a whole.

Following the panel, PNC’s Regional President of Detroit and Southeast Michigan, Ric DeVore, took the stage and announced that PNC was donating $100,000 to the D67 project.

More information on the project is available at detroit1967.org.

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Award-winning journalist and documentarian of race relations in the U.S. Soledad O’Brien provides a national perspective on the Mackinac stage on race and politics.

(Left to right) Starfish Media Group’s Soledad O’Brien moderates a panel featuring NAACP Detroit’s Rev. Wendell Anthony, Ford Foundation’s Xavier de Souza Briggs, Crossroads Consulting Group’s Sheila Cockrel, and The Social Club Grooming Co.’s Sebastian Jackson. Panelists highlighted the 50th anniversary of the 1967 civil unrest in Detroit and how the city can take steps to move forward inclusively.

“Demographic shifts rattle people. They are scaring the crap out of people,” O’Brien said. “When people hear about issues like the disappearance of the middle class, they are afraid.”

Sebastian Jackson, founder of The Social Club Grooming Co., said he opened his barbershop near Wayne State University in 2012 “as a tool for social impact.” “We’re able to break some barriers in a non-invasive way,” he said.

Anthony and fellow panelist Sheila Cockrel, a former Detroit city council member, both said Mayor Mike Duggan is stepping up housing and economic development in the city’s depleted neighborhoods. But with Detroit’s school system in chaos, huge challenges remain.

The Social Club Grooming Co. has managed to survive and expand, but Jackson said startups in the city still find access to capital and credit a challenge.

As the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Detroit riots approaches, it is worth reflecting on the deep divisions between the city police and residents that sparked the civil unrest back then.

True progress will be evident, Cockrel said, when “policemen want to live in the neighborhoods again.”

Xavier de Souza Briggs, vice president of economic opportunity and markets for the Ford Foundation, said that as Detroit aspires to grow after a long period of managing decline, inclusion must be manifest in everyday commerce.

“It is one thing to talk about inclusion or to say you care about inequality as a philanthropic proposition, it’s another to talk about it as a business proposition,” he said. “Ask yourself, ‘Who do you buy from?’ ‘Who do you employ?’ ‘What talent do you develop locally’ and ‘Where do you invest?’”

Anthony said Detroit’s business community, notably DTE Energy, has stepped up on economic issues such as increasing purchases from Detroit-based and minorityowned businesses. Cockrel concurred: “Corporations get that Detroit doesn’t succeed if the neighborhoods don’t,” she said.

For all that’s gone right in Detroit the past few years, myriad challenges remain – including issues that aren’t sexy, like transit.

“Poor folk in Detroit cannot get to work or hospitals. Transit in this region lags the entire nation,” de Souza Briggs said.

“That is appalling. That is criminal.”

Key Takeaways Revival of neighborhoods and full inclusion is key to Detroit recovery nearly 50 years after 1967.

It is one thing to talk about inclusion as a philanthropic proposition, another to talk about it as a business proposition.

Public transit, access to capital needed to increase inclusion and spur growth.

Executive Summary • 21

GOVERNMENT AND PHILANTHROPY WORKING TOGETHER TO HELP RECOVER AND RISE

Flint

Flint Mayor Karen Weaver took an upbeat message to the stage, voicing confidence that the city and its people can turn the drinking water crisis into an opportunity for progress.

Pipes and jobs are what Flint needs to get back on track, Weaver said, as she was joined on a panel by Charles Stewart (C.S.) Mott Foundation President Ridgway White and Lt. Gov. Brian Calley.

The threesome focused on how they are partnering to build trust and a foundation for a better future for Flint citizens.

The panel, entitled, “Government and Philanthropy Working Together to Help Flint Recover and Rise,” took place the same week Flint released a request for proposal (RFP) for the “Fast Start” program, marking the launch of the effort to replace lead-coated water lines in the city.

“We’re very resilient,” Weaver said. In Flint, “people want to work and people don’t want to leave … While we know something bad has happened, we know this is an opportunity to put Flint on the map for some different things.”

Weaver said the RFP was designed to allow small and local businesses to competitively bid on the project. Her larger goal, beyond solving the immediate water crisis, is to build a foundation for economic development in Flint.

“We wanted to level the playing field so some of the smaller businesses could take part in this. Because economic development is going to be crucial to us sustaining ourselves and seeing this recovery that we want to have happen in Flint. Economic development – that’s what we’re ready to talk about,” said Weaver.

Calley, who has been spending several days a week in Flint, said, “We have to be careful to make sure the economic development is the kind of development that can actually help the people that live in the area.”

Full details for the Fast Start program were not spelled out at the time of the Conference, but planned projects include a riverfront restoration project to link downtown with Kettering University.

(Left to right) “MiWeek” anchor Christy McDonald moderates a panel with Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Flint Mayor Karen Weaver, and C.S. Mott Foundation President Ridgway White on progress being made to mitigate the effects of the Flint water crisis on children in the city.

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Flint can also become a national model for water pipe replacement, as other cities examine their infrastructure issues, according to Calley.

“We have an opportunity here to not just deal with the water crisis itself, but to show what it really looks like to have a community’s infrastructure needs met at an optimal level,” said Calley. “It’s a tough goal, but let’s go ahead and reach for it.”

Weaver and Calley also praised the efforts of the Mott Foundation, which initially donated $4 million in October to help Flint leave the Flint River as its drinking water source and reconnect with the Detroit water system. It has since pledged more than $100 million to various health and education efforts.

The Mott Foundation also pledged to match every dollar raised for Flint at the Conference through a crowdfunding effort. More than $125,000 had been raised from individual donations by the end of the four-day Conference.

“We’ve been in Flint for over 90 years,” Wright said. “We can’t just stand back. I think if you come to Flint, you’ll find a group of people that are willing to listen, willing to help, willing to work with you and provide success. We are a strong community. We’ve had our challenges, but we’re like the little engine that could.”

Flint Challenge Raises More Than $250,000 For Flint Child Health And Development Fund Attendees at the 2016 Conference, combined with a generous fundraising match from the Charles Stewart Mott (C.S.) Foundation, donated over $250,000 to the Flint Child Health and Development Fund.

Chamber President Sandy Baruah announced the Flint Challenge in his opening remarks at the Conference, encouraging attendees to donate online via the MLive Conference App or through the Chamber website.

Over the next 72 hours, 100 donations were made by attendees totaling more than $125,000.

Several attendees and organizations made generous donations of $10,000 or more to the Fund during the Conference: Detroit Manufacturing Systems; Lear Corp.; Michael Shields; Minnie Miracle Foundation; The Remington Group; and Soave Enterprises.

The C.S. Mott Foundation had previously announced a 1-to-1 match of all donations made to the Fund up to $5 million until Dec. 31, bringing the total donation amount to more than $250,000. The Fund serves the longterm health and development needs of Flint children exposed to lead.

Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of the Pediatric Residency Program at Hurley Medical Center and assistant professor of pediatrics and human development at Michigan State University, spoke about the Fund on the Conference mainstage in a Mackinac Moment.

Key Takeaways Flint mayor aims to turn disaster into opportunity, looks to build a foundation for economic development.

State says Flint can be a model for other city infrastructure fixes.

Home to Flint for more than 90 years, C.S. Mott Foundation stands by city.

Executive Summary • 23

(Left to right) Crain Communications’ KC Crain Jr. leads a panel discussion with U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, Techstars Mobility’s Ted Serbinski, Lear Corp.’s Matthew Simoncini, and Ford Motor Co.’s Ken Washington on adapting Michigan’s auto industry to innovative technology.

T he Convergence of Auto and Tech:

ADAPTING MICHIGAN’S ECONOMY AMID UNPRECEDENTED CHANGE

Converging technologies that enable smarter, safer, autonomous cars and other mobility options offer the potential of explosive economic growth for Michigan – or a threat to Detroit’s leadership from Silicon Valley and abroad.

“We’re standing at a crossroads. Amazing things are happening. We’re going to make people’s lives better,” said Ken Washington, Ford Motor Co. vice president for research and advanced engineering, as the Conference explored how Michigan can capitalize on these trends. While auto companies now sell about $2.3 trillion worth of cars and trucks annually, he added, the size of the much larger mobility market – including taxis, buses and car-sharing, is $5.4 trillion and growing.

Key Takeaways It’s not Detroit “versus” Silicon Valley, it’s Detroit “and” Silicon Valley.

Washington was joined by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan), Lear CEO Matt Simoncini, and Techstars Mobility managing director Ted Serbinski.

“It’s not Detroit versus Silicon Valley, it’s Detroit AND Silicon Valley,” said Washington, noting that Ford recently put a research and innovation center in Palo Alto, Calif. But while Ford will station about 100 people there, Michigan will remain home to tens of thousands of talented designers and engineers.

Serbinski said one worry is that Detroit has a “very siloed” automotive culture, due in part to the distances between the Ford, General Motors and FCA US LLC hubs in Detroit, Dearborn, Warren and Auburn Hills – and a history that’s been more combative than collaborative. Out west, tech giants Google, Apple, Facebook and others are within a few miles of each other and Stanford University, leading to a “cross-pollination.”

A $5.4-trillion mobility industry awaits if Detroit can break through siloed culture.

“In Detroit,” he added, “we don’t have that connective tissue. We have the talent, we have all this engineering, we have the capacity. We have to do more events that bring people together. How do we do this at scale?”

Government must speed transition via standards on safety, insurance and cybersecurity.

Simoncini said Detroit needs to spread the message that “Michigan is a great place to live; Detroit is hip again.”

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“We need to stop talking about downturns and cycles. There’s going to be a convergence between tech and automotive and we’re at the cusp of greatness,” he declared. “This thing is going to grow to the sky.”

(Left to right) The Detroit News’ Nolan Finley leads a panel discussion with ThermoAnalytics’ Keith Johnson, Matrix Design Group’s Charles Perham, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, and General Dynamics’ Gary Whited about the need to protect and grow Michigan’s defense assets.

Value of Defense:

AND GROWING MICHIGAN’S ASSETS Michigan won acclaim as the Arsenal of Democracy during World War II, and remains a key provider today of defense equipment and technology.

Supporting that industry segment, which provides 105,000 jobs and more than $8 billion in economic activity in Michigan, is the primary focus of a new strategic plan announced at the Conference and preceded by a panel discussion on “The Value of Defense: Protecting and Growing Michigan’s Assets.”

Charles Perham of the Matrix Design Group, which conducted a new study on Michigan’s defense assets for the “protect and grow” strategy, praised the state’s plan and also called for an effort to attract veteran talent, with a focus on innovative technology to make troops safer and smarter abroad.

“You don’t have to go to California or Silicon Valley for that talent. We just have to do a better job of selling ourselves,” he said. “It’s not just about attracting talent. If we’re going to take the time to invest and train someone, we need to keep them here, too.”

The strategic plan includes a new research and development agreement between the state and the U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) in Warren. The partnership that covers testing and evaluating autonomous defense vehicles on I-69, cybersecurity and next-generation alternative-energy development.

“The defense industry is the lifeblood of our business,” said Gary Whited, president of General Dynamics Land Systems, which employs 1,700 people and averages $2 billion in defense contract work.

PROTECTING

Whited and Perham were joined on the panel by U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan) and Keith Johnson, president of ThermoAnalytics, an infrared software firm with locations in Calumet and Novi.

“There is so much synergism between the auto and defense industries,” Johnson said, noting that if he’s working on a ground vehicle issue, he can meet with a defense contractor in the morning and then walk across the street and work with GM in the afternoon.

The new strategic plan, which was released at a press conference shortly after the panel session, includes 17 recommendations. It was created by the Michigan Economic Development Corp. and its Michigan Defense Center, working with the Michigan Department of Military and Veteran Affairs, the state’s congressional delegation and others.

Key Takeaways Michigan must “protect and grow” its $9-billion defense industry with 105,000 jobs.

Synergies abound in connectivity, mobility for autos and defense industries.

More than 4,000 businesses in 67 of Michigan’s 83 counties do defense work.

Executive Summary • 25

(Left to right) Thoughtfull Design’s Tom DeVries leads a panel discussion on the importance of collaboration in the era of the Internet of Things (IoT) with Start Garden’s Rick DeVos, Faurecia’s Rob Huber, JR Automation’s Bryan Jones, and Modustri’s Brian Steketee.

T he Internet of T hings: OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES IN A CONNECTED WORLD Michigan has huge potential to lead the next wave of the internet revolution – the so-called Internet of Things (IoT) – because the big automobile, office furniture and appliance makers that design and manufacture at huge scale already live here.

Think of IoT as the internet’s third wave. First came the personal computer, followed by devices such as mobile phones and tablets.

IoT, the third wave, will connect to everything else around us from cars and homes to footwear.

That was the message from a diverse group of panelists, who said the key to leveraging that power is how well large companies can collaborate with small, nimble tech startups – “the pirates outside,” as Grand Rapids entrepreneur Rick DeVos called them – to connect about 50 billion devices in the next few years.

“There will be sensors in everything,” said Steketee. “Everyone will be touched in some way, shape or form by IoT.”

Joining DeVos, founder of the StartGarden business accelerator and its Seamless consortium of small startups partnering with large corporate mentors, on the panel were: Rob Huber, vice president of innovation and ventures of global auto supplier Faurecia; Bryan Jones, CEO of JR Automation; and Brian Steketee, CEO and founder of Modustri.

Key Takeaways Succeeding in IoT is not about “owning things,” but collaborating and sharing technology.

There will be sensors in everything and everyone will be touched by IoT in some way.

Design in IoT space is an area where Michigan can punch above its weight.

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Fellow panelists agreed that the challenge for Michigan to benefit from IoT is not so much technological as cultural – learning to collaborate and share technology, rather than needing to own and control it.

“If you’re talking about owning something, you’ve already lost. It’s about partnerships,” said Jones.

DeVos agreed, stating: “If Michigan wants to lead, leaders must look beyond their own walls and seek new models and technologies.”

That’s the philosophy behind the Seamless consortium of large companies, including Faurecia, Meijer, Priority Health, Spectrum Health and Steelcase, to support and mentor emerging IoT startups.

Faurecia’s Rob Huber noted that the global auto industry has been through several disruptions in his career and is on the cusp of the biggest one yet.

All panelists agreed that partnerships between Michigan and Silicon Valley, in the end, could bring greater value to global consumers.

“This isn’t alarming. This is exciting,” Huber said.

(Left to right) The Detroit Free Press’ Stephen Henderson discusses Michigan education reform with The Education Trust’s Kati Haycock and education consultant Michael Sentance.

Quality Schools:

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUNDING MODEL FOR EDUCATION Michigan’s education system is in bad shape and getting worse.

There’s no way to sugarcoat the messages from national experts on a panel called “Quality Schools: Building a Sustainable Funding Model for Education.”

“Data very clearly paint a portrait of a school system and kids that are in free fall,” said Kati Haycock, CEO of the nonpartisan The Education Trust, whose Midwest affiliate issued a report in April showing that Michigan students are falling further behind those in other states.

In 2003, Michigan children ranked 28th in early reading, but dropped to 41st last year. And while the crisis in Detroit’s public schools is a major problem, the rest of the state is lagging, too.

Among white Michigan fourth-graders, only one-third are proficient readers, placing Michigan 49th among the 50 states. Proficiency is only 9 percent for African-American fourth-graders.

In 2003, middle-class white students ranked 17th in the country for early reading; Haycock said they are now 50th. And the numbers are not much better for math, where Michigan eighth-graders rank 38th.

Despite those numbers, Haycock consultant Michael Sentance, a former education secretary in Massachusetts, said some states have shown strong improvement, notably Tennessee and Florida.

Massachusetts, under Gov. William Weld in the 1990s, pushed through reforms that not only sent more money to lower-income schools, but also set higher standards and tied salary increases to student performance.

In 1996, Sentance said, Michigan and Massachusetts students were tied on eighth-grade math scores. By 2005, Massachusetts

education scores led the national in both fourth and eighth grades and have stayed on top since. Michigan has fallen to below average.

Haycock said Michigan has put in place some critical building blocks for improvement, including high quality standards for student success, strong teacher assessments, and quality support systems for instructors. But a problem is changing standardized tests and standards from year to year.

“When you do that, you are essentially jerking your teachers around and that undermines any sense of momentum,” she said.

“If we know anything about the places that improve, it is that they pick a course and they stay that course.”

Most other states do direct a higher proportion of state school funding to high-poverty districts than Michigan does, but Sentance and Haycock agreed that more money without reform and more accountability will not necessarily yield improved student outcomes.

Key Takeaways Data shows Michigan schools and kids are in a free fall relative to other states.

To improve, set high standards for students and teachers and stay the course.

Early reading and high-school graduation rates are key markers that can improve quickly.

Executive Summary • 27

Looking Ahead:

NATIONAL POLITICS AND THE 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

In a new programming format on the closing morning, a wide-ranging, nine-person roundtable on national politics and the 2016 presidential election played out mostly as a bemused exchange on the Donald Trump phenomenon.

nominee,” said Packer, who worked on the campaign of Sen. Marco Rubio in Michigan. “He has historic negatives with virtually every demographic group, except angry old white men.”

“Don’t underestimate what Trump has done,” said Harold Ford. Jr., the former Democratic congressman from Tennessee, now a political analyst for MSNBC and CNBC. “Every age group is resenting and rebelling against big media and big institutions and they want someone to shake things up,” Ford added. “Hillary Clinton will have to be at her best if she hopes to beat Donald Trump.”

Longtime Republicans on the roundtable sounded the most rattled by the emergence of Trump as the presumptive GOP nominee.

John Rakolta Jr., CEO of Detroit construction firm Walbridge and a former finance chair for Mitt Romney’s 2008 presidential bid, said he does not know what Trump stands for.

“Donald Trump is against free trade, wants to start building a wall (on the Mexican border),” Rakolta said, referring to Trump’s controversial stances on trade and immigration policies. Trump’s protectionist rhetoric about higher import tariffs and restrictions on U.S. companies expanding abroad run counter to the GOP’s traditional support of free trade, Rakolta indicated.

When asked by moderator Devin Scillian of WDIV-TV how he would vote if the election were held at that moment, Rakolta said he “would have to take the Fifth Amendment.”

Republican strategist Katie Packer, of WWP Strategies and Burning Glass Consulting, said voters are warning that they are “done with all these institutions, media, government,” but added, “There are not enough white voters in America to counter the blatant racism that Donald Trump is projecting.”

“The least conservative candidate who has been in the Republican primary in my lifetime has emerged as the

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(Left to right) Burning Glass Consulting’s Katie Packer and Truscott Rossman’s Kelly Rossman-McKinney discuss the 2016 presidential election with former U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr., Starfish Media Group’s Soledad O’Brien and WDIV-TV anchor Devin Scillian.

Soledad O’Brien, award-winning journalist and CEO of Starfish Media Group, said Trump has a “certain arrogance” that appeals to “people who want to shake up the system.”

As the racial mix of the U.S. population changes, she added, “Demographic shifts rattle people. They’re scaring the crap out of people.”

U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland) said, “I would love to have a different option” than Trump. “I’m very concerned,” he added, “but I’m not a part of the never Trump crowd; I’m part of the never Hillary crowd.”

Amid all the buzz about Trump, major issues like the nation’s debt, international trade agreements and immigration took a backseat in the election to bitter sniping among the candidates during the primaries.

Key Takeaways Voter anger propelled the Trump juggernaut to the GOP nomination.

Every age group is resenting and rebelling against big media and big institutions and they want someone to shake things up.

Walbridge’s John Rakolta Jr. shares insight on the 2016 presidential election from a business perspective.

“When people hear about issues like the disappearance of the middle class, they are afraid and they are voting based on that — whether on the right or left — and that is problematic,” O’Brien said.

So, what will happen when the dust settles in November?

Trump’s success at tapping into voter anger propelled him to the GOP nomination, Packer said, but that may not be enough to overcome the demographic shifts working against him.

“Where Donald Trump is going to have real challenges is with suburban white women, Latino voters, African-American voters, and with young voters, who sort of reject the racist comments that feel a little too totalitarian for them,” she said.

When Scillian asked why the polls were so close between Trump and Clinton, Packer replied, “she’s a flawed candidate.”

Demographic shifts bode well for Democrats, pose challenges for Trump.

Other panelists also noted that Clinton faces her own issues with young women, a constituency that was expected to be firm supporters.

U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Flint) said he hears the voter dissatisfaction in his district as well, but also decried what he called the “false equivalency” between the positions of Clinton and some of the provocative statements from Trump.

“Banning entry to people based on how they pray?,” Kildee asked, referring to Trump’s statements about closing the borders to Muslims.

“Choices have consequences,” Kildee said. “Recognizing public sentiment is one thing. Helping to channel that public sentiment in a direction that moves the country forward is what our obligation is as public officials and political leaders.”

Executive Summary • 29

Ken Washington, vice president of research and advanced engineering for Ford Motor Co., and Glenn Stevens, executive director of MICHauto, discuss key issues facing the industry at the automotive roundtable.

MICHAUTO ROUNDTABLE PUTS

Spotlight on Mobility New technologies and business models are transforming the automotive industry “at a speed that a decade ago, we never could have imagined,” Sandy Baruah said, launching the third annual MICHauto Automotive Leadership Roundtable.

Baruah, CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, exhorted the 80 attendees at a breakfast at the Mackinac Policy Conference to rally around efforts to boost Michigan’s stature in that space.

“We in Michigan have taken our automotive industry and the next-generation mobility industry, frankly, a little bit for granted,” he said. “We’ve owned this space for over 100 years … but that doesn’t mean that it’s our birthright to own next-generation mobility.”

Key Takeaways Reshaping of auto industry will have winner and losers and will happen very fast.

Planet M branding and AutoMobili-D put spotlight on mobility.

Be optimistic, but also paranoid and take nothing for granted despite Michigan’s automotive success and legacy.

30 • 2016 Mackinac Policy Conference

Gary Silberg, head of KPMG’s national automotive practice, put it this way: “There’s this complete reshaping of the auto industry and there’s great reason for optimism.

“There will be winners and there will be losers and it will happen very fast,” he added. “There are billions and billions of dollars at stake to getting this right. You should be optimistic, but you should also be a little paranoid.”

Silberg encouraged automakers, suppliers, universities and other players to partner with technology firms large and small, in Silicon Valley and around the globe, because changes are “happening way too fast for you to try to do this completely on your own.”

Also at the roundtable breakfast, Rod Alberts, head of the North American International Auto Show, shared details of a new AutoMobili-D event that will complement the 2017 show in January, focusing on mobility innovations and bringing 50 to 60 Techstars Mobility startup firms and suppliers to the lower level of Cobo Center.

Following the breakfast, Gov. Rick Snyder announced a new branding campaign, dubbed Planet M, to tout Michigan as the global hub for innovative transportation and mobility research. The tagline will be “Michigan. Where big ideas in mobility are born.”

U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Michigan) spoke on the need for Planet M. “When I’m in Washington, I always remind people that Michigan is not just smokestacks and manufacturing,” he said. “It is a high-tech state and a leader in new automotive technology.”

Mackinac Moments Top: Mona Hanna-Attisha, director of the pediatric residency program at Hurley Medical Center and assistant professor of pediatrics and human development at Michigan State University, gave an impassioned speech about efforts underway to mitigate the health risks for children exposed to lead-tainted water in the city of Flint. Hanna-Attisha called for increased investment in early childhood intervention, universal preschool, school nutrition program reform and behavioral care for the state’s most vulnerable children. “We will not be defined by this crisis, but rather by our response to this crisis,” she said. Response to the Flint water crisis, she said, can be a model for other communities in the United States and beyond.

Center: Joel Kahn, clinical professor of medicine at Wayne State University and author of the book, “Dead Execs Don’t Get Bonuses,” shares his insight on the importance of healthy living. Kahn reiterated that executives are at risk for early disease and death due to stress, poor diet, sitting, sleep and lack of time to exercise. The solution, he said, is a multifaceted lifestyle he called “Vitamin L.” This includes 30 minutes of physical activity, eating a healthy diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains, not smoking, undergoing a routine medical exam annually and sleeping an average of seven or more hours at night.

Bottom: Starfish Media Group CEO and awardwinning journalist Soledad O’Brien discusses race in America, calling it “the elephant in the room.”

Citing the election of President Obama in 2008 and 2012, and the appointment of Eric Holder as the first African-American U.S. Attorney General, O’Brien said some strides have been made in racial equality, however more work needs to be done. “In that fight to move forward, I would enlist you to embrace civil rights in its broadest definition and to speak out against fear and racism. To leverage the progress of the past decade and more to promote racial equality even further,” she said.

Executive Summary • 31

UNDERWATER DRONE MAKER WINS

Pitch Mackinac Contest

To the winner went a $5,000 prize and professional services and mentoring from several Chamber members.

(Left to right) FUBU’s Daymond John, Emagine Entertainment’s Paul Glantz, Consumers Energy’s Patti Poppe and WJR’s Paul W. Smith listen to a pitch from Matt Gira and Danny Vessells of Grand Rapids-based Fathom during the Pitch Mackinac competition.

To put attention on growing clusters of entrepreneurial startup activity in Detroit, Grand Rapids and other Michigan cities, the Pitch Mackinac finalists were selected from both the east and west sides of the state.

Detroit Ento won a “Pitch Detroit” competition at the 2016 Detroit Policy Conference while Fathom was recruited by Start Garden. The faceoff was emceed by John and judged by Emagine Entertainment President Paul Glantz; Consumers Energy President Patti Poppe; and WJR News/Talk 760 AM host Paul W. Smith.

With star power supplied by “Shark Tank” co-host and FUBU founder Daymond John, the 2016 Conference hosted its first-ever “Pitch Mackinac” competition.

In quizzing by the judges, Fathom partner Gira said their drones, which they expect to sell for $600, “are more than just recreational toys.”

And the winner was … Grand Rapids-based Fathom, an underwater drone maker being launched by recent Hope College graduates Matt Gira and Danny Vessells.

Still in the prototype stage, Fathom has made molds and simplified the design to make it smaller and portable. Fathom has no revenue or profits yet, but had already raised nearly $30,000 from local pitch competitions and a Kickstarter campaign before the Mackinac contest.

Fathom beat out Detroit-based Detroit Ento, founded by Anthony Hatinger and Theodore Kozerski. They use locally raised insects— primarily crickets—as a sustainable source for high-protein food.

Key Takeaways

It was hard to tell if the judges were buying Detroit Ento’s claims that insect-based foods are a $1.2-billion market and that Time magazine had pegged insects as the No. 3 hot food group – but Time did indeed run an article entitled “20 Delicious Bug Recipes from Chefs.”

Conference’s first-ever pitch competition spotlights startup activity across Michigan.

Kozerski said that protein powder and cricket loaf were their main products at this point, but the partners said they expect to be cash flow positive in 18 months.

“Shark Tank” co-host Daymond John emcees competition.

When Glantz asked how much money Detroit Ento needed to raise, they declined to specify a number saying only that they “need significant expansion capital.”

Grand Rapids’ drone maker Fathom wins $5,000 and professional services and mentoring from Chamber members.

32 • 2016 Mackinac Policy Conference

In February, Hatinger and Kozerski competed against three other entrepreneurial teams eventually winning Pitch Detroit, taking home a prize package worth more than $7,000, including: cash, a Chamber membership, the trip to Pitch Mackinac and professional consulting services donated from several Chamber members.

News ANDNotes

Alycia Merriweather, interim superintendent at Detroit Public Schools, engages in a question-andanswer session with Conference attendees during a meet-and-greet session in the AT&T Government Center in Grand Hotel.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan and Wayne County Executive Warren Evans converse during a meet-and-greet reception with Evans in the AT&T Government Center.

Jason Hall, co-founder of Slow Roll Detroit, (right) leads Conference attendees on a scenic tour of Mackinac Island during the inaugural Slow Roll Mackinac.

Executive Summary • 33

T hank You 2016 Sponsors

910 AM Superstation Ascension Comcast Business Solutions Comerica Bank Delta Air Lines DTE Energy Ford Motor Co. General Motors ITC Holdings Corp.

John Hancock JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Kresge Foundation Meijer Michigan.com Michigan Economic Development Corp.

Michigan Health & Hospital Association

Deloitte Delta Dental Detroit Public Television KPMG The Skillman Foundation Talmer Bank and Trust Toyota Van Conway & Partners

AAA Accenture American Axle & Manufacturing AutoMobili-D at NAIAS Crain’s Detroit Business DENSO Detroit Medical Center

34 • 2016 Mackinac Policy Conference

Detroit Metropolitan Airport Eli Lilly and Company EY Greektown Casino-Hotel GS3 Ilitch Holdings Inc. Kelly Services Miller Canfield Nexteer Automotive OpTech Plunkett Cooney Priority Health PwC Saint Joseph Mercy Health System

2016 Conference AT A GLANCE

95%

Attendees Indicated They Received Value

202

3

Government Officials Attended

Number of Days the Conference Hashtag #MPC16 Trended on Twitter

13

National Speakers Taking Center Stage

403

Top Tier Executives Attended

59,000+ Number of People from Across Michigan Who Watched DPTV’s Coverage of the Conference On-Air and Online

1,752 Total Conference Attendance

700

MEDIA

Media from Print, Digital and Broadcast Outlets

1,200+

+

Instances of Earned Media Coverage

136 Members of Working

Amount Raised for the Flint Child Health and Development Fund Between Donations from Attendees and a Generous Fundraising Match by C.S. Mott Foundation

Downloads of the 2016 Conference App

Executive Summary • 35

ENERGIZING MICHIGAN’S

Future

From Metro Detroit to Lake Michigan and north to the Mackinac Bridge, ITC is working hard to keep efficient, reliable energy flowing to homes and businesses across the state. ITC is proud to have supported the 2016 Mackinac Policy Conference and proud to be a Michigan-based company recognized nationally for its best-in-class operations throughout the Midwest.

Building the electric transmission infrastructure that will power the future.

www.itctransco.com