For a number of years, DEGC focused a considerable amount of our attention on projects in and around Downtown. We never stopped working to help companies throughout the city, and we had infrastructure projects going on from the east side of the city to southwest Detroit, but we knew we had to build on strength. We already had a high concentration of assets Downtown, so we knew we would get the fastest, highest and most visible return on our investment there.

With the help of a lot of individuals, institutions and companies large and small, the strategy is working. The new activity Downtown is striking, and it has spread up and down Woodward through Midtown, and is progressing east and west through the Corktown and Eastern Market neighborhoods.

So what's next? Our work Downtown is not finished, however, Detroit is a big city, geographically, and the amount of open space it now has is no secret.

We have identified several areas of "low hanging fruit" for economic development outside of Greater Downtown - places that are ripe for new investment such as the East Riverfront and East Jefferson Districts, the 8 Mile Road-Woodward Avenue Gateway and the Livernois-7 Mile Avenue of Fashion. However, all of those districts together still only represent a small portion of the 140 square miles of Detroit. That's why Detroit Works Project Long Term Planning is so important, and why DEGC is committed to getting it right.

DEGC is just one of the stakeholders in this process. Our role is still focused on finding sites for companies, encouraging businesses of all sizes to invest in the city and building infrastructure that promotes economic growth. Those are all important objectives, but they don?t stand alone. We do what we do to create a better quality of life for everyone who lives, works or plays in Detroit.

As chair of the Long Term Planning Steering Committee, I can report that a lot of what we are doing right now is listening. The civic engagement team is listening to community leaders, neighborhood groups, business people and individuals. It's listening in forums, at a traveling table that pops up at events, in one-on-one conversations, through emails and Internet postings - in short, in every way we can think of. We are listening because there are a lot of creative ideas for redeveloping the city, and we don't want to miss any. We are listening because it will take the collective work of many people to build a brighter future for Detroit, so we'll need all those people to buy into any plans that are made.

Collecting all that input has not stopped our technical team, of course. We are on track to deliver a long-term plan before the end of this summer, because ultimately, listening has to turn into action. And action is what Detroiters expect and deserve.

George W. Jackson

Jackson is president and CEO of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a non-profit organization that works with businesses, government and other organizations throughout Detroit to encourage and manage economic development projects. 

Detroit has long been known as a leader in using brownfield tax incentives to spur redevelopment of blighted or underused properties, and that is not likely to change, even though the State of Michigan eliminated some of its tax credits at the end of last year.

Tax increment financing is one of the important tools that brownfield plans can use to clean up sites to prepare them for redevelopment, including removal or containment of hazardous materials. With state and local approval, new property taxes on a redevelopment (based on the increased assessment of a building and land) can still be used to reimburse a developer for certain eligible cleanup costs. 

Last year - the final year of Michigan Business Tax incentives -- DEGC facilitated $66 million in brownfield incentives to spur a potential $505 million in new investment in Detroit. The 20 approved projects include 730 potential new housing units and 3700 continuing jobs. These projects covered several categories of redevelopment, and are expected to generate 2,750 temporary construction-related jobs.

• Four retail projects represented a potential investment of $95.3 million, including the Gateway Marketplace, where Meijer plans to anchor a major shopping center with one of its superstores.
• Six mixed-use projects represented a potential investment of $281 million, including the redevelopment of the West District of Downtown with several projects.
• Six commercial and office developments represented a potential investment of $88 million, including renovation of the First National Building for firms associated with Quicken Loans.
• Two industrial projects represented a potential investment of $35.4 million to revitalize the business of generating steam heat by incinerating waste and distributing it to downtown buildings. 
• Two residential developments represented a potential investment of $5.7 million to renovate apartment buildings and create multi-unit rental properties.

Moving forward, brownfield projects will now be eligible for direct State support through the Michigan Business Development Program (MBDP) and the Michigan Community Revitalization Program (MCRP). The MBDP provides funding to qualified businesses for impact projects that make new investment and create jobs. The MCRP provides funding to applicants for projects that revitalize our urban areas. Funding under these programs will be available in the form of a grant, loan, or other assistance and the disbursement of funding will be based on an agreement, which will include milestones the business would have to meet in order to draw down funding. The programs will also include repayment provisions that are part of the agreement in the event a project does not proceed as promised. 

With these tools, we expect brownfield redevelopment to continue to be a vital part of the economic growth of Detroit.

Art Papapanos

We tip our hats to Tim Bryan, CEO of GalaxE Solutions, who will be introducing President Barack Obama today at the White House forum "Insourcing American Jobs." Bryan, who started expanding his firm in downtown Detroit several years ago has been a persuasive advocate for the growing IT hub here and is one of about a dozen invited to the White House to participate in the forum. 

DEGC has targeted IT as a source for economic growth and has promoted it in a number of ways, including the Creative Corridor Incentive Fund, which offers matching grants for qualifying companies or building owners in greater Downtown. GalaxE Solutions is a participant in that program and has grown from a handful to more than 450 employees.

While the Presidential forum may be drawing many people's attention for the first time to what Dan Gilbert would call "Webward Avenue," the clustering of technology and creative businesses downtown has been going on for years. Peter Karmanos certainly played a pioneering role by building an iconic world headquarters building and bringing 2,200 Compuware employees downtown in 2003. The momentum built as Quicken Loans has moved 4,000 employees downtown in several phases, and Dan Gilbert purchased buildings and opened offices for his other business interests. Urban Science, a marketing firm that specializes in data analysis is continuing the process with its expansion in Renaissance Center offices. And these are just a few examples.

The fact is that Detroit is a good place for onshoring IT jobs - that is, bringing them back from other countries. The region has a good talent pool, attractive office rents and competes well overall in costs. The city offers world-class healthcare and hosts a major state research university as well as other institutions of higher education and culture. Downtown has become a lively place for sports and entertainment, attractive to young professionals as a walkable, livable neighborhood. So much so that housing is becoming scarce and developers are starting to scramble to fill the demand.

In short, we've all heard Chrysler's tagline, "Imported from Detroit." To that we can now add a corollary -- "Outsource to Detroit."

George W. Jackson

Jackson is president and CEO of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a non-profit organization that works with businesses, government and other organizations throughout Detroit to encourage and manage economic development projects. 

George W. Jackson

Every coach and every business manager knows you must have good talent on your team to succeed, and demographers agree. Places that attract a well-educated workforce do better economically than those that don't, and for years, Detroit was an example of a place that did not. That?s all changing for a number of reasons.

There are college-educated professionals moving into downtown through consolidation and relocation of businesses, such as Quicken Loans, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and General Motors. 

There are job openings in Detroit at places such as GalaxE Solutions, Urban Science and Strategic Staffing Solutions, that have been expanding.

Major institutions such as Henry Ford Health System and Wayne State University have joined major companies to offer their employees incentives to live nearby in greater downtown and midtown.

Those moves have prompted new restaurants to open and events to grow. A bicycle tour of the Motor City (organizers call it the Sans-Motor City) grew from 300 riders to 4,300 riders over the course of six years. Dig Downtown Detroit, a social media site recently promoted a week of events that included: BoatoberFest - a cruise on the Detroit River featuring tastings of beers from local microbreweries; the Michigan Apple Pie Contest at Eastern Market; a tour of architecturally significant buildings hosted by the Detroit Art Deco Society; an after-hours event at the Detroit Historical Museum featuring a look at an electric car - built in 1914; and the launch of a new City Year with 81 young people starting a year of public service. And oh, yeah, the Tigers were in the playoffs, the undefeated Detroit Lions played a home Monday Night Football game, and the Red Wings opened their season of hockey.

All these developments are steps forward, but only if talented young people know about them. And that's why DEGC is a sponsor of LiveWorkDetroit!, an effort to connect Michigan?s college graduates to new opportunities in Detroit and promote the city as a post-graduation talent destination. Every month LiveWorkDetroit! holds a different event to let young college students experience what we have to offer and to network with potential employers. The next event is October 21, and it will feature entrepreneurs and companies in Detroit?s growing creative sector. Find more information for employers and participants at LiveWorkDetroit! on the Michigan Advantage website.

George W. Jackson

Jackson is president and CEO of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a non-profit organization that works with businesses, government and other organizations throughout Detroit to encourage and manage economic development projects. 

The difference between "vacant land" and "valuable development parcel" in Detroit is not always that obvious, and sometimes it takes quite a bit of effort and patience to turn one into the other. The site of the former Uniroyal property is one example of that. Beginning in the late 1800s and continuing through the early 1980s, the 43-acre site was home to numerous industrial operations, including tire manufacturing, ammonia production, iron production and manufactured gas production from coal. Those historical operations left industrial byproducts in the soils that have stopped redevelopment, because they must be removed first. Settling the questions about who should pay and how much took more than 20 years. In the meantime, the property looked simply like vacant land.

Today, the area doesn't look much different, but when DTE Energy and others signed an agreement with the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, it instantly became a valuable development site again. The most visible signs are the trucks and earthmoving equipment that have begun the 18-month first phase of remediation. As we begin the $20 million project to haul away hazardous material from the west third the property, I think its fair to stop calling it "the old Uniroyal property" and start calling it "the Belleview Development Site."

The likely first redevelopment of the site will be the construction of one of the final sections of the East RiverWalk by the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy. That is a very significant project. Right now the RiverWalk runs continuously from the Civic Center to Mt. Elliot Park. Completing that last half-mile to Gabriel Richard Park will connect almost 10 miles of bike/pedestrian trail with three major destinations - Downtown Detroit, Belle Isle, and Eastern Market.

A mixture of residential and other uses is expected for the remainder of the Belleview site. Bettis/Betters Development, LLC, holds an agreement with the Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority to develop it. What once was "toxic" vacant land is now on its way to becoming a milestone in the transformation of the Detroit East Riverfront District from industrial to recreational, residential and commercial. It has not been easy or quick, but it will be worth it.

George W. Jackson

Jackson is president and CEO of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a non-profit organization that works with businesses, government and other organizations throughout Detroit to encourage and manage economic development projects. 

Comerica Park is known around Major League Baseball as a pitchers' park because of the long distances to the outfield fences. It gives up fewer home runs than a lot of other places - Yankee Stadium among them. To win here, teams have to be able to score many ways - from strings of walks and singles, stolen bases, sacrifice bunts and well-placed drives for extra-base hits.

From an economic development perspective, Detroit itself has been trying to shake a reputation as a "pessimists park," because people don?t think it?s a place that allows many "home run" business investments. I don't think that?s necessarily true - and we've got a billion-dollar Marathon refinery project, about $700 million in recent auto assembly plant reinvestments, and $800 million in hospital construction in the works to back up my case.

Even so, we can?t depend only on major investments to turn around the whole city, or even an important district such as greater downtown. That's why it we have been steadily increasing our attention to small and medium-sized businesses to make economic scores for the city.  We are doing this by contacting several hundred business owners every year to assess their needs, and by launching new programs to fill gaps or address targeted industries. Our SmartBuildings Detroit energy conservation grant program has awarded $6.4 million to leverage investments of more than $62 million by 19 different businesses, cultural institutions or government agencies. The Green Grocer Project has worked with more than a dozen independent grocers, giving them operational technical assistance, financing, city permits and connections to other resources. Our brownfield program has potentially leveraged $610 million in investments with $101 million in incentives.

For all its work with small businesses, DEGC has earned national recognition from the Initiative for Inner City Competitiveness, an organization that promotes and nurtures growing urban businesses all over the U.S. Later this month, the ICIC is conducting one of its national small business training events here. Several dozen Detroit-based businesses are likely to join almost 50 others from around the country to attend educational sessions about different forms of capital and how to effectively communicate with bankers and investors. We welcome all those guests, because as they grow, they may find Detroit a great place to expand.

It's pretty clear from our track record that while we continue to "swing for the fences" with major job growth, we continue to score with help for companies, transforming individual neighborhoods and the city as a whole. 

George W. Jackson

Jackson is president and CEO of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a non-profit organization that works with businesses, government and other organizations throughout Detroit to encourage and manage economic development projects. 

The Detroit Tigers are playing postseason baseball for the first time since 2006, and since they are playing the New York Yankees in the first round, there's bound to be quite a bit of media attention for the series. It's also possible that there are sportswriters visiting Detroit who haven't been here since 2006. To all of those visitors, welcome back, because we've got a lot of new stuff to show you.

You probably are seeing a lot more people around. That's because thousands of new people have started coming to downtown Detroit to work. Some examples:

• General Motors consolidated offices, bringing the number employed in its Renaissance Center headquarters to 4,400.
• Quicken Loans has moved its headquarters downtown with its first phase of 1,700 employees.
• Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is moving 3,000 employees downtown.
• GalaxE Solutions has hired about 150 people to date for its IT business.

But those are just our first inning hits. Since 2006 --

• GM and Chrysler together have reinvested approximately $700 million in Detroit and Hamtramck assembly plants that build Chevrolet Volts and Jeep Grand Cherokees, among other vehicles.
• DEGC has managed nearly $50 million in new construction. Some examples downtown or nearby:
• The Rosa Parks Transit Center
• Downtown streets and streetscapes
• Capitol Park
• Paradise Valley street and park improvements
• The Dequindre Trail bike and pedestrian path
• The 457-room Westin Book Cadillac Hotel opened after a $190 million renovation and restoration that required 22 layers of financing.
• Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby opened as a business conference hotel with 200 suites and state of the art meeting amenities.
• Brownfield incentives have supported $3.2 billion in potential investments in manufacturing, industrial, retail, commercial and residential redevelopment of blighted or obsolete properties - many of them vintage buildings.
• DEGC-led business incentive and support programs have granted more than $6.5 million for energy conservation, creative enterprises and grocery store improvements through its targeted programs.

In this year alone, companies assisted by DEGC are investing $15 million in the city and have created or retained more than 400 jobs.

So don't be surprised if you hardly recognize us. We are still the Motor City - and a lot more. And don't expect to stay away as long next time. The Detroit Lions could be playing for the NFC Championship here on January 22, 2012. We'll leave a light on for you. It's no trouble because we are installing 500 high-efficiency LED streetlamps downtown between now and then.

George W. Jackson

Jackson is president and CEO of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, a non-profit organization that works with businesses, government and other organizations throughout Detroit to encourage and manage economic development projects. 

This month, the Detroit Regional News Hub is hosting almost 40 journalists for a two-day "immersion experience" in the transformation of Detroit. They will, of course, have a chance to hear and meet representatives from major corporations, foundations and government, but the real stories are likely to come from the opportunities they will get to explore places in Downtown, Midtown, Southwest Detroit and the East Riverfront on foot. Sure, they'll get suggestions about where to go -- and people in the neighborhoods will be prepared for the visits -- but just breaking away from a tightly controlled or "pre-packaged" tour represents a huge step. A few years ago, we would not have had the confidence to do that, and we might not have had enough good places to stop. That's not the case anymore.

Just consider a few of the shuttle stops in Midtown, where reporters will have an afternoon to get on and off on their own schedule.

• At Woodward and Garfield they can walk a few blocks and see: MOCAD - Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the artist-creative business center at 71 Garfield, the Artist Market, the G R N'Namdi Gallery. Some will already have had lunch at The Whitney, but they can stop for a snack or drink at the Raw Café, Biggby Coffee or the Midtown Corner Café. 

• At Canfield and Second the Green Garage eco-community will welcome them, as well as Curl Up and Dye, Willy's lofts, Flo, the Bureau of Urban Living, and City Bird. For a break there's Avalon Bakery and Goodwells Natural Food Market.

• At Cass and Burroughs they can stop in at Techtown, Next Energy, the Amsterdam Lofts, and the new high-tech Wayne State Police Station. Chances are they can catch a tech entrepreneur at the Java Exchange coffee shop, too. 

These just represent one district in the city. The News Hub has lined up other stops in the central business district, southwest Detroit and east riverfront-East Jefferson neighborhoods. We are encouraging the News Hub to publish its list of "exploration stops"

George W. Jackson