PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS Through a year marked by unprecedented crisis and uncertainty, the Detroit Regional Chamber stepped up and responded quickly to the needs of its members and the broader regional business community. The Chamber team shifted gears to become a leading resource for businesses navigating the COVID-19 pandemic – offering informative programming, advocating for businesses in Washington and Lansing, and connecting businesses with material and financial resources to weather trying economic times.
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@DETROITCHAMBER Launched a landing page with vaccination resources
4/21
DETROIT
The Detroit Promise is a last-dollar scholarship that ensures all eligible Detroit residents have a tuition-free path to an associate degree, bachelor’s degree, or technical certificate at participating academic institutions.
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Registration is open to all K-12 Detroit students for Detroit Promise at detroitpromise.com.
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Partnering with Year Up Job Training Program to create pathways from community college to career-track internships with the pilot scheduled to launch in Spring 2022.
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Resumed in-person presentations about Detroit Promise for students.
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The Detroit Promise Zone Authority (DPZA) provided public funding to Detroit Promise for the first time. DPZA is projected to generate over $3 million in 2022.
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Detroit Drives Degrees unites regional, cross-sector stakeholders – representing K-12 and higher education, business, nonprofit, government, and philanthropy – around increasing postsecondary attainment to 60% and reducing the racial equity gap by half by 2030.
2021
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Detroit Regional Talent Compact Regional master plan and strategic action plans created with partners representing businesses, philanthropy, nonprofit, and community organizations, higher education, and K-12 schools. The Compact is a public commitment by all partners to increase college access, boost college success, advance adult attainment, and prepare regional talent.
Preparing Regional Talent Through Employer Partnerships
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Providing an “Employer Upskilling Toolkit” and technical assistance to help employers develop and scale education benefits, strengthen work-based learning initiatives, and create a learning culture to improve talent attraction and retention outcomes.
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Developed a survey and tools to help employers better understand and support workers’ education goals and barriers.
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Identifying and promoting the credentials that have high value in the regional labor market. Employers will have the opportunity to validate this information based on their projected talent needs.
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Hosting focus groups to get direct input from employers to identify jobs and credentials that have the most demand and value in mobility, health care, IT, professional services, and trades.
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Detroit Reconnect An initiative to help more adults return to higher education or attend for the first time. Detroit Reconnect works closely with the State of Michigan’s tuition-free scholarship program, Michigan Reconnect, to provide employers information about existing opportunities to participate in the program.
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Advancing Adult Attainment Providing free concierge services for adults 25 years and older looking to return to a postsecondary program or attend for the first time.
Let’s Detroit aims to promote Southeast Michigan as the best place to live, work, and play to increase the number of college graduates who stay in the region. It facilitates this through events, an online job board, and a regional ambassador network of young professionals who use the website to engage with college students and job seekers. 2021
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Ambassadors informing the Let’s Detroit network through blogs and newsletters on relevant topics such as remote internships, moving to the area, graduating, job search, and racial justice initiatives.
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Currently recruiting a cohort of campus ambassadors for the 2021-2022 school year to share Let’s Detroit’s presence on college campuses.
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Connecting talent directly to regional employers such as Bosch, Consumers Energy, Cooper Standard, Ford Motor Company, Magna, Meritor, and Rocket Mortgage through award-winning virtual career fairs.
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Highlighting the focus on high-tech and automotive industry as signature industry.
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Supporting a job board that connects job seekers with employment opportunities in the Detroit region in the automotive, technology, and finance industries, at letsdetroit.com/work-here.
LET’S DETROIT
L E T S D E T R O I T. C O M
MICHauto promotes, retains, and grows Michigan’s signature industry as the state’s only automotive and mobility cluster association. Through COVID-19, MICHauto stepped up providing guidance on navigating the crisis and sharing industry concerns with government leaders. Celebrated Industry Branding Campaign Launch at MICHauto by the Bay
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After a one-year hiatus, MICHauto by the Bay returned to Traverse City to promote its new industry branding campaign during the Center for Automotive Research Management Briefing Seminars. Over 100 people attended.
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Discover Auto: You Drive the Future, an industry-wide talent attraction campaign to raise awareness about and improve the perception of careers in the automotive and mobility industry among emerging talent, launched in June. Young professionals submit testimonials about their career journeys, what attracted them to the industry, and how they impact the world.
2021
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Presented Mobility Challenge in Apple Competition •
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Grow Detroit’s Young Talent, a citywide summer program led by the city of Detroit that trains and employs young adult residents, in conjunction with the Boys and Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan, offered a unique opportunity to 30 youth participants to learn app design and coding. The participants learned how to build an app prototype that solved a local community challenge in the areas of hip hop, sustainable fashion, and mobility. They showcased their prototypes to a panel of judges in August.
Testified In Lansing on Solutions For the State’s Labor Shortage MICHauto
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On June 17, MICHauto Executive Director Glenn Stevens Jr.; Global Strategic Supply Solutions Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, and MICHauto Board Chair Lisa Lunsford; and Shape General Counsel Aida Tanaka, testified before the Michigan House Workforce Committee on the continuing labor shortage issues facing the automotive and mobility industry and state.
Convened Executives at MICHauto on the Island •
MICHauto on the Island, held Sept. 20-21 at the Mackinac Policy Conference, convened nearly 50 chief executive officers in private CEO Sessions to talk about EV adoption, transition, and impact. Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II highlighted emerging innovation and Michigan’s leadership in next-generation mobility. The next day’s Automotive Roundtable discussed Michigan’s critical talent shortage for automotive, tech, and mobility.
Released Michigan is Automobility Report: The Home for Automotive Talent and the Industry’s Electric Future • M I C H AU TO . O R G
In September, MICHauto released its annual Michigan is Automobility report, which comprehensively explores the state of the automotive and mobility industry in Michigan.
GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
The Chamber’s Government Relations team is a trusted advocate and advisor to local, state, and federal government leaders on behalf of the regional business community. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, they have advised Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and her administration on the safe and strategic reopening of businesses to position the state for a successful economic recovery.
2021
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100k Back to Work by Labor Day plan, designed to reduce Michigan’s labor shortage. The Governor included key elements of the plan in her recommendation to the legislatures to incentivize people otherwise unemployed to rejoin the workplace. Three main Chamber priorities were included in the bipartisan budget signed by Gov. Whitmer. The Going Pro Talent Fund, Michigan Reconnect, and Futures for Frontliners are all fully funded.
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Called on local, state, and federal government leaders for the passage of the additional rounds of funding (i.e., Paycheck Protection Program, CARES Act, American Rescue Plan, etc.), extended tax deadlines, business liability protections, and infrastructure funding.
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Gained nearly unanimous support for a bipartisan package of bills approved 104-6 by the Michigan House and 36-0 in the Michgan Senate that would exempt PPE from the state Sales and Use Tax.
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Joined a coalition of business leaders in advocating for and sending open letters to Gov. Whitmer urging the safe and gradual reopening of Michigan’s businesses and their offices.
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Successfully advocated for the withdrawal of permanent MIOSHA rules as they relate to the pandemic.
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Continued the Chamber’s ongoing efforts in a series of findings from a statewide COVID-19 impact polls in spring, fall, and winter that offered the first glimpse into the struggles Michigan households were facing amid the COVID-19 crisis. Most recently, findings from a statewide poll of registered voters in Michigan were released providing insight on how Michiganders have reacted to the state’s dual public health and economic crises.
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D E T R O I T C H A M B E R . C O M / A DVO C A CY
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Wellness Works is driving regional health promotion efforts to help employers navigate the complexities of employee health and well-being amid the COVID-19 pandemic and connect businesses through resources, discussions, and engagement opportunities.
U P TO DAT E 2021
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Convened health care and business leaders around regional issues as businesses reopen.
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Supported members by providing expert resources and discussions around workplace health and safety.
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Developed employer tools for the COVID-19 vaccination, managing workplace mental health, reopening safely, staying connected, and living an active lifestyle.
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Organized employer conversations around building vaccine confidence in the region.
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Created an employer guide to help businesses navigate the transition back to in-person operations.
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Hosted virtual employer events around vaccine confidence, strategies for returning to the workplace, and preventative health and routine vaccination.
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Continued efforts to support the regional goal of healthy workplaces and communities.
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WELLNESS WORKS DETROIT
W E L L N E S S W O R K S D E T R O I T. C O M