$70-MILLION PLAN AIMS TO PROPEL THE REGION; SPURRING START-UPS, GROWTH AROUND AIRPORTS ARE IDEAS

BYLINE: JOHN GALLAGHER

Launching an all-out assault on metro Detroit's economic malaise, business and civic leaders committed the region Thursday to an 11-point plan of economic revitalization.

"This is a fast-paced, let's-get-it-done job," Doug Rothwell, president of the corporate leadership group Detroit Renaissance, said in announcing the program called Road to Renaissance. "These build on largely existing programs, and we should be able to see results relatively fast."

Acknowledging the magnitude of the economic challenges facing the region, Rothwell said, "We're not going to fix our economy overnight."

But he said the program "should encourage people that there is action being taken to move things forward and, therefore, they should feel hopeful that this region is a place to want to stay in."

Implementation of the 3-year program is estimated to cost $70 million to $80 million in up-front expenses and $5 million to $10 million annually.

Of the up-front costs, about $50 million would support six accelerators, or entrepreneurial centers, that nurture small, usually high-tech, firms. Four of those centers already operate - Tech Town and NextEnergy in Detroit, Ann Arbor SPARK in Washtenaw County and Automation Alley in Oakland County. Two more centers are to be established in Macomb and western Wayne counties under the program.

Acting like entrepreneurs

With an overall theme of thinking and acting more like entrepreneurs, the program would create loan programs for business start-ups; encourage new auto-related research, including alternative fuels, and establish a so-called creative corridor along Woodward Avenue to lure and support designers and artists, like those in training at Detroit's College for Creative Studies.

Other strategies include building support for a so-called aerotropolis, or airport city, on the land between Metro and Willow Run airports, and establishing a cooperative to market southeast Michigan as the best business climate for any mobility-industry enterprise.

On the public relations front, the proposals include creation of a "D-Newsbureau" to promote positive stories in the media about metro Detroit.

Rothwell said the programs mark the first time all the ideas have been pulled together into a single document backed by a coalition of business and civic groups, including the Detroit Regional Chamber and the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"I often joke with people that say, 'In Detroit, all we do is plan.' In fact, we never plan in Detroit," Rothwell said. "We plan for little individual projects. We never really put together a strategy. This is probably the first time we've had an economic strategy in quite some time."

Rothwell said the money needed would be raised from state and federal grants, foundation grants and other private sources. Some commitments for money are close to being finalized and will be announced soon, he said. Economists reacted positively to the announcement.

"I think it is a worthwhile effort to do everything that can be done to accelerate the process of creating a more diversified economy here in Michigan and building on the strengths that we do have," said Dana Johnson, chief economist for Comerica Inc.

Peter Eckstein, a former AFL-CIO economist, agreed that encouraging local entrepreneurs is a good strategy. "Growing your own is the only realistic approach for Michigan," he said.

Patrick Anderson, an East Lansing-based economic consultant, raised one caution. "The real question will be, 'Can we retool our institutions, particularly our government institutions, to support these efforts?' " he said. "If we can, we'll be far more successful than even this group is dreaming."

Plans for the program

Among other things, the plan sets goals for boosting technical training and education in southeast Michigan - goals that are sorely needed, said the cochairs of the panel working on education.

"I have to deal with kids who think they can drop out of school and go to work in a plant and live happily ever after, and those days are long gone," said Eleanor Josaitis, cofounder of Focus: HOPE.

Daniel Little, chancellor of the University of Michigan-Dearborn, agreed.

"There are too many young career people, 25 to 35, who have taken a little bit of college and dropped out," he said. "The region really needs for us to find ways of getting those young people back into college, complete their degrees, and have the skill level that the 21st Century requires."

A key to the plan is a scorecard that the coalition will issue quarterly and annually to mark progress. The scorecards will measure broad effects such as regional income and employment levels, as well as narrower goals that include getting more college graduates to stay in the region rather than move away.

"We want you to hold us accountable because that helps us get the job done," Rothwell said.

"Growing your own is the only realistic approach for Michigan."Peter Eckstein, a former AFL-CIO economist, on entrepreneurs

SIDEBAR

THE PLAN

Detroit Renaissance Inc.'s business and civic leaders committed the region Thursday to an ambitious, 11-point three-year plan that would:

Create a center to promote economic development by using the region's existing automotive capabilities.

Develop the area between Metro and Willow Run airports into a so-called airport city, serving as a logistics hub.

Create an asset map and Web portal of metro Detroit's creative sector.

Establish a so-called creative corridor on Woodward Avenue to serve as a catalyst to attract talent.

Create a regional network to support the creation of new businesses.

Provide assistance to business start-ups.

Expand funding for companies.

Increase training programs in science, technology, engineering and math.

Establish internships and apprenticeships to entice students to pursue careers in southeast Michigan.

Develop a communications and marketing strategy that targets displaced workers and young adults.

Raise awareness of local business-success stories and job opportunities.

Contact JOHN GALLAGHER at 313-222-5173 or jgallagher@freepress.com.

ILLUSTRATION: Photo