Foundations Commit $100M for Detroit’s Next Economy

Ten foundations have joined forces to create an eight-year $100 million New Economy Initiative for southeastern Michigan, with a goal of transitioning the region’s economy toward more knowledge-intensive industries. Three foundations, Ford, Kellogg and Kresge – each created from the personal fortunes made by some of the founders from the state’s historic economic bases – have contributed $25 million toward the effort. Additional support ranging from $1.5 million to $10 million is being provided by seven other community foundations.

 

The Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan will provide organizational management for the effort, which, according to the Sept. 14 Detroit Free Press, will be chaired by Steve Hamp, brother-in-law and former chief of staff to Ford Motor Co. Chairman Bill Ford. A search is underway to hire an executive director for the effort.

 

The Detroit region is not the first Midwestern manufacturing center to see private foundations step up to help finance TBED efforts, although the $100 million commitment presents one of the largest one-time injections of funds. In 2004, Northeast Ohio foundations committed $22 million to coordinate regional investments (see the Feb. 27, 2004 issue of the Digest), while the Eli Lilly Endowment has made several significant grants to support Indiana’s economic transition toward a more knowledge-intensive economic structure. One donation from the Endowment created a $100 million pool of funds to support the attraction of research faculty and students to Indiana’s public and private higher education institutions (see the March 5, 2004 issue of the Digest).

 

The seven-page position description <http://www.cdvca.org/about/jobs/NEIDescription.pdf> circulated for the executive director position of the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan outlines four objectives to help the region:

• Teach and train a workforce skilled in knowledge-intensive positions;
• Strengthen innovation support systems and networks;
• Support the emergence and nurturing of innovators and entrepreneurs; and,
• Change the culture to embrace TBED-oriented changes and regionalism.

Projects within the funding scope of the initiative, according to the position description, run most of the gamut of a comprehensive TBED portfolio. Examples include university technology transfer and commercialization assistance, university-based research centers, capital networks, equity funds, workforce development and branding/marketing campaigns.

 

According to a Detroit News article, the New Economy Initiative is intended to complement the public and nonprofit TBED efforts already underway in southeastern Michigan.



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