Okay, so we're stretching on the topic with this post a bit, but bear with us for a minute. There was a story in today's Tri-Cities Business Review that really caught our eye:
The bulked up Tigers lost 5-4 in 11 innings to the Kansas City Royals in a chilly pre-April affair, and although the outcome was disappointing, the victorious and joyous atmosphere was a polar opposite of the gloomy mood throughout the state about, it seems at times, virtually everything else.
Can the optimism and positivity emanating from Woodward Avenue reverberate throughout the state? Or is it not relevant to the economic struggles the state is going through and the political troubles in Detroit?
We think it's relevant...
Michigan, and certainly Detroit, are by some accounts in the same place the Tigers were during their losing stretch. Unemployment levels are high, automotive jobs are evaporating, and the public perception of the economic circumstances is low.
Can Michigan and Detroit come back like the Tigers? Rothwell says yes.
"It really is a metaphor in many cases for the rebirth of Detroit," he said. "It's a great morale boost for the people in the community. I think they're very symbolic of the comeback in the community."
Some of the most negative and pessimistic attitudes about Detroit and the State of Michigan usually come from... Michiganders. But hopefully the Tigers can, in some small way, give us all a much-needed attitude adjustment.
Oh, and having a successful baseball team isn't so bad for the area's economy either...
The Tigers expect to sell out many games this season, en route to likely breaking the team's all-time attendance record and topping 3 million in total attendance, Matwick said.
Meanwhile, two unrelated reports pinpoint the economic impact of Opening Day and the Tigers' season:
• The East Lansing-based Anderson Economic Group estimates spending by fans attending Tigers games this year will generate a net economic impact on the metro Detroit area of $117.3 million. That figure - which doesn't account for some activity, such as Tigers jersey sales - is nearly 2-1/2 times bigger than the estimated economic impact of the 2006 Super Bowl in Detroit, estimated at $49.3 million.
• The Detroit Regional Chamber, which used different methodology than the Anderson Economic Group, estimated that the season would have an economic impact of more than $277 million.
So for all the hype we heard about the economic impact of the 2006 Super Bowl –– which wasn't completely unjustified –– our baseball team will bring in at least 2.5 times as much economic activity for the region this year?
It's enough to make you root, root-root for the Ti-gers!
Here are a few excerpts from the WWJ story:
Glazer said the future belongs to states that value higher education and have strong metro areas anchored by vibrant central cities that attract young, well-educated people. Those are the folks, he said, who can form the backbone of a new, knowledge-based economy and workforce.
“Unless there is a consensus that there needs to be a new Michigan,” Glazer said, “you’re not going to get to the new agenda.”
So what’s on that new agenda? It comes down to education and urban renewal. Among the report’s suggestions, Glazer emphasizes three things:
*Transforming teaching and learning so that it is aligned with the realities of a flattening world.
*Ensuring the long-term success of a vibrant and agile higher education system. This means increasing public investments in higher education and changing the way it is funded.
*Creating places where talent – particularly mobile young talent – wants to live. This means expanded public investments with an emphasis on vibrant central city neighborhoods.
As far as we're concerned, Glazer nails it on all counts. This is essentially the same argument we've been making on this blog for the past two years, so it's nice to have some concrete evidence to support our case.
Everything we do is in one way or another intended to create affordable, vibrant communities where people will want to live an work.
As Lou points out:
“The state does not work if its big metros don’t work,” Glazer said. And, according to the data, the metro areas that work the best are those with strong central cities.
We plan to keep doing what we do, no matter what. Hopefully community leaders and elected officials across the state will take some time to really soak up Michigan Future's progress report (PDF), because it's a great plan for moving Michigan forward.
To advance Michigan as a destination for tourism and business, we must invest in and promote our state's cultural resources.
Those of us who call Michigan home know that it is the combination of cultural resources and our stunning natural resources that make us a unique place to live, work and raise a family.
Our unique attraction for tourists is both those natural and cultural resources. No other state can claim the diverse and authentic array of home-grown/world-class cultural offerings that is Michigan. From the Lumberjack Festival in Newberry to the reinvented DIA in Detroit and everything in between.
We've written numerous times here about the importance of the arts on Michigan's economy, specifically by highlighting our support of the Williamston Theatre:
The Trust Fund also gave a façade grant to the Williamston Theatre in 2006 through the Commercial Economic Development Fund grant program that the Trust Fund administers on behalf of the Capital Region Community Foundation. According to Sutton-Smith, “The building hadn’t been improved in ages. We had inadequate signage, our patrons couldn’t find us, and our lights didn’t always work. This program gave us the ability to make the outside of our building shine the way our work does on stage. The curbside marketing value will be immeasurable.”
Ms. Delaney goes on to make the case for how the arts benefit our state's economy and foster an environment where innovation can thrive:
In addition to abundant natural and cultural resources, we have a multi-cultural, highly educated workforce. Michigan's creatives have shaped the modern world. They include the entrepreneurs of yesterday. They include Henry Ford. Seeking a way to build an automobile faster and less expensively, he innovated the assembly line. Today's entrepreneurs come from campuses, laboratories, farms and small businesses seeking alternative forms of energy to innovate our entire transportation model.
Creativity fuels invention, innovation and entrepreneurship. These will transform our economy. By supporting the arts and artists in our communities, we tell our young people and our visitors that this is what matters here: It is ideas. It is innovation. It is creativity.
We couldn't have said it better ourselves.
So the next time you're looking for something to do on a cold weekend, be sure to check out what's showing at your local theatre, studio or museum. Aside from having a good time and supporting a local business, you'll also be fueling innovation here in Michigan – something that's priceless.
This headline from WWJ today caused us to raise an eyebrow: Rust Belt No More? Michigan Is Becoming Increasingly Innovative, Researchers Say. Here are a few excerpts from the story:
Innovative economic activity in Michigan increased 2.8 percent from the middle of 2006 to the middle of 2007, according to a new “innovation index” developed by scholars at the University of Michigan-Dearborn School of Management.
The UM-Dearborn researchers developed the index to track accelerations and decelerations in economic innovation in Michigan. The index is based on calculations of employment of “innovation workers,” trends in venture capital, trademark registrations, incorporation activity, small business loans and job creation.
The “Innovation Index” is a new project of the school’s Center for Innovation Research, or iLabs. The UM-Dearborn researchers are planning to release the index quarterly to make it more useful for economic policy makers.
They released their first report, on data from the second quarter of 2007, on Feb. 4. “While our index fell in the second quarter of 2007 from the beginning of the year, it was 2.8 percent higher than the second quarter of 2006,” according to Lee Redding, associate professor of business economics and director of the Innovation Index.
On the positive side, federal data showed strong growth in the proportion of Michiganders working as scientists or engineers. “This indicator has improved for four consecutive quarters,” Redding said.
Venture capital also increased in the state for the strongest quarter since the end of 2004, according to the UM-Dearborn index. And trademarks registered by Michigan companies in the second quarter of 2007 were the highest since the first quarter of 2006.
We're not exactly equipped to discuss big macroeconomic issues on this blog, but in general this sounds like encouraging news for Michigan. There's no doubt our state has been in something of an economic rut for the past several years, but historically-speaking Michigan has been a central hub for technological innovation for decades.
Those of us who've stuck around have done so for a reason: we know that Michigan is a great place to live and work.
A big part of what we do at the Trust Fund is priming the pump for economic development efforts across the state, so hopefully this research will mark the beginning of a new paradigm for Michigan.
By shedding our image as a "rust belt" state, we can start convincing others to come live here, start a a family here, establish a business and create jobs here, and so on. But there's more work to be done... that rust won't chip off on its own.
Just under a month ago Quicken Loans announced its intention to move its corporate headquarters from Livonia to downtown Detroit. As we noted back in November, the ripple effect of this relocation is great news for local Detroit businesses:
"Any type of business that moves downtown is going to help retailers ... and attract other retailers," said Luciano Gonzalez, the owner of Salad Creations, which opened six months ago on Woodward near Campus Martius. The restaurant benefits from being near Compuware and Ernst & Young and is doing well, he said.
Rob Remdenok, owner of the Computing Express store in the Penobscot Building on Griswold Street, said having Quicken's headquarters downtown will make the area more vibrant.
"It will bring people downtown who are potential customers for us and everyone else," he said. "It's a nice thing to have more people here."
Well, add Health Plan of Michigan to list of suburban-based companies moving back into the city:
Health Plan of Michigan (HPM) announced today that it will relocate its corporate headquarters and staff of 111 employees to downtown Detroit from Southfield.
The company's new headquarters will be located at 777 Woodward Ave. in the Campus Martius Park area. The 44,000 square foot space will accommodate HPM's 111 employees, and will allow for future growth. HPM CEO and President David B. Cotton made the announcement at a press conference. He was joined by Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick, Wayne County Executive CEO Robert Ficano and George Jackson Jr. of the Detroit Economic Growth Corp.
So, not only is Detroit becoming a popular travel destination, but now it's also apparently the place to be for major business investments as well. Both are great news for a city that has struggled with its image for the better part of four decades.
Of course, the Trust Fund is proud of its Detroit Headquarters, located at 2727 Second Avenue, and our organization remains strongly committed to the City of Detroit. That's why it's so exciting to see so many other businesses moving back downtown. Hopefully this will be the new trend.
This one managed to slip past us last week, but in case you missed it too, this article from The Economist is definitely worth checking out.
Here are a few excerpts:
There are glints of progress [in Flint], and not just because GM is building a new factory. Construction workers are beginning to transform the downtown area. There is a heated contest for mayor: Dayne Walling, a Flint-born Rhodes scholar brimming with good ideas, is challenging Don Williamson, the incumbent, in November's election. Flint is trying to chart its own course. And it is not alone. A faint spirit of change is wafting through some of the rustbelt's grimmest streets.
Scholars at the Brookings Institution, a Washington, DC, think-tank, argue that America's old industrial cities can indeed rise again. Big cities such as New York and Chicago have experienced a rebirth, thanks in part to fine mayors and a surge of immigration and new business in the 1990s. Most rustbelt cities have had a more modest revival or none at all. But urban optimists insist that the renaissance can spread: cities are the natural centres of the new knowledge economy and will only grow more appealing to young people and ageing baby-boomers, who want amenities near their homes.
Also in Flint are LISC, part of a national non-profit group that channels grants and loans toward community work, and Uptown Developments, which is using so-called “baklava financing”—layers of private investment, loans, grants, federal and state tax credits—to build residential lofts as well as retail and office space downtown. Together, these groups are trying to make Flint liveable, a city that might lure a start-up or retain its students after graduation.
We've complained in the past that community economic development initiatives aren't getting the attention they deserve from the mainstream media. That's been slowly changing as the year has worn on, with more local papers finally picking up stories about community revitalization efforts. Even so, it's still exciting to see Flint's redevelopment work featured so prominently in a respected international publication like The Economist.
Michigan still has a long way to go before we can shake that "rust belt" image, but it's definitely a good sign that we're making progress if the folks across the pond are taking notice. Hopefully with a little help from people like you, we can continue in our own work to make Michigan a great place to live and work.
Talk about a two-for-one story. In case you missed this one from the AP earlier this week, here are a few excerpts:
Not so long ago, the Detroit neighborhood separating Wayne State University's campus from downtown mostly was a wasteland of ramshackle buildings and rat-infested alleys, notorious for its drug houses and rampant prostitution.
"We use the euphemism today and call it Midtown, but it was the Cass Corridor and everyone knew what the Cass Corridor was," outgoing Wayne State President Irvin Reid said.
When Reid arrived in 1997, he set about transforming the look, perception and reputation of the faded community bordering the 200-acre urban campus with Cass Avenue as its main thoroughfare.
Wayne State has spent more than $1 billion over the past 10 years for on- and off-campus housing and building projects.
"More people are realizing the action is in Midtown Detroit," Reid said. "As we fulfill our strategic mission to revitalize Detroit, we have become part of the growing rhythm of this diverse neighborhood."
Anchored by the university and a cultural district that includes the Detroit Institute of Arts, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and Orchestra Hall — home of the Detroit Symphony — Midtown has become an attraction.
Actually, it's a three-for-one story. Education + Arts + Development = Revitalized communities. What's the missing piece of the puzzle? Housing.
But wait, they're working on that too...
Wayne State is promoting new housing in the area to more than 8,200 faculty and staff, and close to 31,000 students. In return, the companies are offering incentives ranging from a year without mortgage payments to thousands of dollars in upgrades to free parking spaces.
Add small, affordable eateries, a Starbucks coffeehouse, Barnes & Noble bookstore and a hair salon, and the campus becomes more of a destination for people living in and visiting Midtown.
"It's critically important to have new retail and new restaurants," University Cultural Center Association president Susan Mosey says. "It's another reason for students to want to live in the dorm or in apartments."
What's encouraging is that the heavy investment from Wayne State is clearly having a ripple effect throughout Midtown. New eateries and small businesses will undoubtedly lead to more private business development. The folks at WSU clearly "get" that collaboration is key:
"The university discovered that if students were coming to look at the campus, the parents were saying, `Where is my child going to live?'" Brown said.
For an urban university to be a part of the community, it has to reach out and not become an island, said Reid, who is stepping down as Wayne State president next spring.
"This does not happen in one day, one year or, for that matter, in 10 years," he said. "It takes time.
That's right, it takes time. Community revitalization doesn't happen overnight, which is why it takes a strong commitment from institutions like Wayne State to be the catalyst for change. Hopefully this is just the beginning of Midtown's road to recovery.
Of course, the best news for our industry relates to the first-ever funding of the Michigan Housing and Community Development Fund. A line item introduced by the House of Representatives into the Department of Labor and Economic Growth budget (which you can read more about here) included $2.1 million for the MHCDF!
This is definitely short of the $100 million goal our coalition set for this year, but it's certainly a great start. The State will undoubtedly face more fiscal challenges in next year's budget, but the Trust Fund will continue to advocate for more investment in MHCDF.
There's clearly more work to be done, but this week's action from the Legislature sends a message to our industry that they value our work. Major kudos go out to Majority Floor Leader Tobocman and Senator Jansen for their support this year.
Now... back to work!
Let's see. Our state has three major research institutions: Wayne State, Michigan, and Michigan State. In order to turn our economy around, we need to build a new generation of young, knowledgable workers capable of attracting 21st Century jobs.
So, how do we capitalize on our assets to stimulate economic activity? In a word, icubators.
Here's the story from MSU's student newspaper, the State News:
In coming months, the city will discuss and eventually implement a “high-tech incubator” on the third floor of the building that contains Barnes & Noble, 333 E. Grand River Ave.
The city hopes the incubator will serve as a nurturing environment for small business as they struggle to mature and grow into full-fledged establishments, City Manager Ted Staton said.
“You know the notion of an incubator,” Staton said. “The immature baby is sort of coddled in this nurturing environment until the baby gets healthy enough. Well, it’s the same thing. Immature companies will come over here and be given a chance to grow and become mature.”
The first set of businesses, which will be selected by the city in the coming months, will settle within a 7,000-square-foot region in the building, said Tim Dempsey, East Lansing’s community and economic development administrator.
Initially, the city will let up to five businesses settle in the incubator, but as interest peaks, the city will consider expanding the area and opening it for the simultaneous use of more businesses, he added.
Incubated businesses will reap the benefits of below market rent rates, discounted utilities, high-speed Internet and common space, Staton said.
The concept of buisness incubators isn't new. Ann Arbor SPARK is a non-profit organization that aims "to advance the economic development of innovation-based businesses in the Ann Arbor region by offering programs, resources, and proactive support to business at every stage, from start-ups to large organizations looking for expansion opportunities."
Earlier this month, SPARK announced a similar venture to the one taking shape in East Lansing:
Arbor SPARK also is planning two office-style incubators -- one in downtown Ann Arbor and another in Ypsilanti -- to nurture startup companies in a host of other fields. Altogether, SPARK is working with 31 businesses that have located or plan to locate in one of the three new business accelerators and many either have ties to university research or former Pfizer employees.
SPARK leaders have been working with at least 14 startup companies looking for wet lab space, trying to find alternative locations for those they can't accommodate. The availability of Pfizer space where numerous small companies can be housed presents a large opportunity for many new and growing firms.
According to UM, the region has long had a shortage of privately available wet lab space. SPARK's incubators will fill lthat void.
What's particularly interesting about the project in Ann Arbor is that SPARK is actively pushing business accelerators for former Pfizer employees.
Back in January, Pfizer announced it was closing three research sites in Ann Arbor. Similar to the Armory Arts project we highlighted yesterday, this is another perfect example of someone taking a symbol of Michigan's econoimc struggles and turning it around.
The message here is actually pretty simple. With non-profits and Michigan's public reserach universities pulling in the same direction, we can capitalize on our collective assets and accomplish some remarkable things.
Well, that headline sure says it all, doesn't it? If you didn't get a chance to read yesterday's Free Press, here's the editorial that caught our eye (highlights below, but the whole thing is definitely worth reading):
Just off Cooper Street in Jackson sits a renovation project that economic leaders statewide ought to be eyeing. It's a textbook example of creative revitalization.
In January, a historic 19th Century former prison will be reopened as an incubator for artistic talent and economic growth. The project, called the Armory Arts Village, is a twist on the familiar formula of reviving a piece of history with a modern marketable use. In Jackson's case, it's not just any piece of history, but the very building that launched the city's long involvement with the prison industry.
The project, five years in the making, saved the building from becoming another sign of economic blight, all because the Enterprise Group, an economic development agency, had the vision and a creative funding strategy to turn the old jailhouse into something more, a $12.5-million subsidized housing complex for artists.
We're written about the Armory Arts project in the past, so it's nice to see this innovative redevelopment initiative getting some ink in the state's most widely-read newspaper.
This is the sort of work we've been highlighting here on the blog all year:
Going after the creative class is hardly a new idea. But plans in most cities center on attracting the pocketbooks of established artists and creative types who can afford market rate lifestyles. Armory Arts Village appropriately flips the theory by targeting artists who need both a break in rent and the skills to market their talent. The Armory lofts' appeal hinges as much on the 13-foot-tall ceilings as it does on the promise that tenants will acquire the skills to grow their talent into lucrative enterprises, ranging from a teaching workshop for the local school district to designing art for area businesses.
"We see the artists who will live here as small businesses in the making," said Steve Czarnecki, president and CEO of the Enterprise Group. "We intend to capture their creativity and show them how to turn it into wealth for themselves and for Jackson."
It's all part of a shrewd attempt to stimulate a stretch of Jackson, just four blocks from downtown, into a thriving destination and tax base. "This will be an iconic project not only for Jackson, but for Michigan," says Peter Kageyama, president of Creative Tampa Bay, a nonprofit development group that studies reuse projects around the world.
The Armory Arts project is exciting for a number of reasons, but the fact that the developers are taking such an iconic symbol -- the old Jackson prison -- and turning it into a haven for young, creative artists perfectly encapsulates everything we're trying to do here in Michigan.
"This project just epitomizes the idea of using where you've been as a city to take the leap forward into the future," said project director Jane Robinson, who is also a local painter and spent years working in the city's prisons. "The prison industry really built Jackson, starting right here. And now we're using it as the catalyst to reinvent ourselves again."
"If Jackson can be uppity enough to think it can transform itself into a cool city," said Czarnecki, "any city in the state can. It's all about seeing the value creativity and a knowledge-based economy can bring."
Looking to government or any single industry to revive a city is ancient economic thinking. The momentum is in growing and maximizing partnerships, especially those that aim, as the Armory does, to turn historic relics into viable resources again.Developers and strategists across the state ought to start looking for more creative ways to bet on their city's futures.
Hey, we're already there. Like our Vision Statement says:
Where others see empty, broken storefronts...
We envision the realization of the entrepreneurial dreams of successful small businesses which will create jobs.
Where others see hopelessness and overwhelming problems...
We envision new and renovated facilities through which non-profits can better serve their communities.
In communities as far flung as Birmingham, Northville and Ann Arbor, baby boomers are moving downtown, city officials report, bringing an influx of social and economic capital into downtown communities and businesses. As Gen-Xers become homebuyers and baby boomers become empty nesters, there's a growing trend of retirement age couples who are opting for city centers instead of suburban retirement communities. In fact, the number of seniors moving downtown has become large enough that it has spawned the term "ruppie," or retired older person.
Nationwide, there are about 78 million boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 - and next year, the first wave turns 62, becoming eligible to claim Social Security benefits. State demographers estimate there were roughly 2.6 million boomers in Michigan in 2006, almost double the 1.5 million Michiganders 62 and older that year.
"Most housing development in the last 40 years is the suburban model, but the downtown model may be more suited for the single person or the empty nest couple," says Susan Pollay of the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority. "For many boomers, downtown is an alternative to the suburbs."
Okay, so the type of downtown living they're discussing in this article certainly doesn't exactly scream "affordable."
While affordable housing is obviously a big part of what we do, one of our key values as an organization is to promote viable and vibrant neighborhoods. With that in mind, we sure like the sound of this:
Take Fred Beal and Nora Wright, a fifty-something Ann Arbor couple who moved to the city's downtown about a year ago. She's an attorney who's volunteered time to Doula's Care, a program that assists impoverished women through childbearing and he's a developer with a long history of public service - he's been a member of the city's Downtown Development Authority, sits on the Ann Arbor Economic Development Corporation board, has been on the Ann Arbor Arts Center's board and is involved in the Washtenaw Contractors' Association. And that's not including the kid-related service hours Beal has logged.
"Now that I'm off the DDA I'm sort of deciding how to get re-engaged a little bit with the city," he says. "I'm on the presidential task force, which is a major time commitment, the zoning committee, the citizens advisory council and the homeowners association."
Not only are the boomers moving back into urban areas, but they're actually getting involved with community organizations.
This is great news, since active civic participation is the cornerstone of any vibrant community. When people are engaged in local institutions, they have a vested interest in maintaining a high quality of life in the area where they live and work.
As a state, we've been putting a lot of emphasis on the need to retain young, talented workers as a means of attracting high-tech jobs and stimulating our economy. As an organization, we've certainly supported the notion that the way to do this is by building vibrant communities where young workers will want to live.
Well, this article definitely puts a new spin on things.
There's obviously a lot of work yet to be done in terms of jumpstarting Michigan's economy, but for now it looks like the baby boomers -- the generation that abandoned city living for the suburbs in the first place -- might be at the forefront of our state's economic redevelopment.
ACORN's Oct. 23 report “Foreclosure Exposure 2: The Cost to our Cities and Neighborhoods” analyzes data from private and federal sources to predict the real economic impact of foreclosures on 96 metropolitan areas if financial institutions and governments do not act immediately to minimize the damage. As the foreclosure crisis widens, property owners, local governments, lenders and investors alike stand to lose more than $25 billion.
ACORN’s study shows the real costs communities incur when high foreclosure rates spawn derelict buildings and depress residential and commercial property values. Neighborhoods with concentrated foreclosures experience higher rates of violent crime and artificially decreased property values, placing additional costs and maintenance burdens on local governments and devaluing the assets of neighbors – even those in good financial standing.
According to the MIRS article, the ACORN study projects Detroit will lose $250 million, Flint $33 million, Grand Rapids $45 million and Lansing $28 million. These cities are struggling to jumpstart a period of dramatic urban redevelopment, but the economic hit they could endure from the foreclosure crisis has the potential to reverse much of the progress that has already been made.
As we wrote last week, an insufficient supply of affordable housing in the State of Michigan is among the key factors contributing to this foreclosure crisis:
In this tough economy, how can we expect families to send their children to college, save for retirement, pay for healthcare or even engage in "normal" consumer activity (buying and selling goods) when they have to deal with these sky-high mortgage payments? Clearly, this foreclosure crisis is not fostering an atmosphere for economic recovery, which Michigan so desperately needs right now.
While Michigan's foreclosure crisis is very real and certainly cause for concern, the silver lining is that it will bring attention to affordable housing issues and be a catalyst for change.
To learn more about the Trust Fund's affordable housing programs, click here. If you share our vision for Michigan and want to contribute to our mission, click here to learn how you can help.
It looks like Brandon White from Michigan Messenger has decided to take a page out of our playbook.
Here's what he had to say in an op-ed posted yesterday:
There is a widespread myth that living in Detroit suburbs provides a socio-economic safe haven, this is only true to a certain extent. The model for building up Southeast Michigan should not be Detroit first, everyone else later. Rather it should be everyone coming up together.
As Detroit tries to expand the success of downtown development into neighborhoods, the primary target must be young people willing to invest in Detroit for the long haul. The fact is that no city can support a sustainable tax base (to provide adequate services and a high quality of life) without families that live, work, and can send their kids to school within the city they live.
Now, White's commentary is focusing primarily on Detroit Public Schools, which we won't delve into here. However, we sure like the point he's trying to drive home in this editorial.
Opinion leaders all over the state have been moaning about Michigan's economy -- especially Detroit's -- for far too long. Sure, times have been better in Michigan, but the people of this state need to focus on what we can do together to make things better instead of complaining about how bad things are all the time.
The Trust Fund is just one organization, but we're working every day with non-profits all over the state to invest in our state's economic future through our affordable housing and economic development programs.
As a state, we must be able to offer young workers vibrant communities where they'll want to live, work, and raise a family. That's the key to long-term economic stability, and it's why we do what we do.
To learn more about how you can join the Trust Fund in rejuvenating Michigan's communities, be sure to check out this page on our website.
The Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL) today announced key findings from the CEDOT: Great Lakes Arts, Culture, and Heritage Participation Survey, developed in partnership with Michigan State University (MSU). The long-awaited survey provides economic information from more than 6,000 households in Michigan and the surrounding Great Lakes states, concerning residents' arts and cultural participation and consumerism, from their purchases and travel decisions to employment and education opportunities.
Why is this important?
Well, we've written about the important role the arts community will play in Michigan's economy recovery in the past:
The Armory Arts Project is an apt symbol for everything the City of Jackson has gone through over the years. The goal is to take this old, run-down structure, and turn it into the hub for Jackson's economic revitalization plan.
There's been a lot of talk in recent years about attracting young, knowledge workers to our state. Well, here's the perfect opportunity to actually make it happen!
Jackson's Armory Arts project is a major cornerstone in that city's revitalization plan. Clearly, the arts community is a crucial economic sector, and should not be overlooked by any city hoping to revitalize their downtown districts.
Well, the survey results seem to support this logic:
• Artists are entrepreneurial and want to grow their businesses. Seventy-five percent of Michigan artists want to support themselves with their arts-related income but face major barriers such as financing, marketing, credentials and location.
• Seventy percent of survey respondents participated in some type of visual, performing, or literary arts or crafts lessons or classes as children and spent an average of $462 annually for arts education of their children.
• Thirty-seven percent of all respondents and 36 percent of Michigan respondents attended theatrical performances over the last year, spending an average of $38 and as much as $250 for tickets.
• Nearly 15 percent of Michigan respondents made financial donations to arts, heritage or cultural organizations and 30 percent provided one to five hours of volunteer service during the previous 12 months.
There are two key points here: (1) Artists are entrepreneurs looking to grow their businesses, but they face numerous funding barriers; (2) Consumers value the arts, and are willing to support this vital industry.
Keep an eye out for that, but in the meantime, check out the whole Great Lakes Arts, Culture, and Heritage Participation Survey Report here (PDF).
The news blog Michigan Messenger has a rather lengthy post up about the results of the NEXT Detroit Neighborhood Initiative (NDNI) first quarter report of the “Detroit Neighborhood Drilldown” study. If you have some time, check out the whole post –– or better yet, read the whole report –– but for starters, here's some background information on the research:
The Detroit Neighborhood DrillDown study utilized market analysis to “capture additional hidden strengths and opportunities that exist in Detroit’s many communities and help guide an appropriate retail attraction strategy for continued revitalization of the city’s commercial corridors.”
The study is part of the Kilpatrick’s larger renewal strategy through the NDNI. This initiative is “a 5-year strategy focusing on the rejuvenation of Detroit neighborhoods into vibrant areas for citizens. The approach will concentrate on improving basic quality of life issues such as cleanliness, safety and beautification through growth and development strategies.
This is something we've discussed here before. Detroit's downtown area is definitely on the upswing, but the next major push to revitalize the city needs to target individual neighborhoods... and that's exactly what this initiative does.
The six areas the NDNI targeted for development include the following neighborhoods: Northend (Woodward to Chrysler Freeway I-75, E. Grand Boulevard to Webb), Brightmoor (Grand River to Schoolcraft, Evergreen to Telegraph), Grand River Greenfield (Grand River to Fenkell, Greenfield to Schaefer), Osborn Community (Eight Mile to Seven Mile, Van Dyke to Gratiot), Seven Mile/Livernois (Six Mile to Eight Mile, Wyoming to Woodward), and East English Village (Mack to Harper, Cadieux to East Outer Drive).
As the Michigan Messenger article points out, the Detroit DrillDown report will help Mayor Kilpatrick make the case to businesses that investing in Detroit’s neighborhoods makes economic sense.
Here are some of the report's key findings:
*The informal economy in the City of Detroit to be worth $803 million dollars.
*Despite projections of population decline, the DrillDown aggregate neighborhood income estimates exceed Census 2000 numbers by 15%, an increase of over $2 billion dollars
*The DrillDown estimates that the City’s average household income is 17% higher than the Census 2000 estimate. The DrillDown estimates the current average household income to be $47,962. New home buyers in Detroit had an average income of $48,500 between 2003 and 2005. Similarly, the average median household income is 12% higher than the Census 2000 estimate.
*Based on a careful analysis of multiple municipal and proprietary datasets, the DrillDown estimates the current population to be 933,043, nearly 62,000 above the 2006 Census estimates. This analysis provides evidence that Detroit’s predicted population decline is not as dramatic as previously thought. The Census estimates that Detroit’s population fell from 951,270 in 2000 to 871,121 in 2006.
We've been committed to investing in Detroit's economic revitalization for years. In fact, it's one of our organization's key values. Of course, we can't do this alone, which is why we're hopeful that the NDNI will be attract the business investment that is necessary to jumpstart Detroit's economy.
In case you missed it, take a few minutes to listen to CEDAM Board President (and Trust Fund borrower) Don Jones' interview on Detroit Public Radio from earlier this month.
Don discussed asset building and Michigan's Housing and Community Development Fund with Quinn Klinefelter on Detroit Today a couple weeks ago. It's definitely cool that one of Michigan's strongest advocates for affordable housing and community development is getting this kind of media exposure... check it out!
(Hat Tip to CEDAM for the link)
“Poverty does not belong in a civilized human society. Its proper place is in a museum,” writes Muhammad Yunus near the end of Banker to the Poor: Micro-Lending and the Battle Against World Poverty. “I want to see a world free from poverty.”
If anyone else made such a pronouncement, you might be justified in dismissing it as idle fantasy. But after reading 250 pages describing Yunus’ thirty-year micro-lending project, the reader knows that he is not dreaming — he’s deadly serious. What’s more, he just might achieve his goal.
What's so intriguing and inspiring about Professor Yunus is that he can make bold statements like this – "I want to see a world free from poverty" – and actually do something to make it happen.
Not to toot our own horn or anything, but this is basically the same philosophy we bring to our work on a daily basis.
It’s this delineation between economic theory and economic reality that makes Yunus’ story so compelling. Instead of ensconcing himself in an ivory tower, discussing economic policy based on ideas, he chose to put these ideas into practice, to see how they worked in the real world. There’s a big difference between fighting poverty in theory and fighting it in fact.
Yunus found that most of the poor people in the villages around his university didn’t lack initiative, but only lacked opportunity, opportunity that existing financial institutions were not prepared to grant. Yunus established the Grameen Bank to help the poor help themselves.
Grameen Bank offers small low-interest, collateral-free loans to the poor. These micro-loans — most of which are given to women — are used for entrepreneurship. One woman might make stools, another might weave baskets, another might own and operate the only cell phone in a village. In nearly every case, however, the loans allow the women to break free from the chains of poverty.
Helping the poor help themselves, empowering women entrepreneurs to break free from the chains of poverty... I don't care what your political affiliation is or what your religious beliefs are – who can possibly argue with such goals?
Here's what Prof. Yunus has to say about the poor:
The poor, once economically empowered, are the most determined fighters in the battle to solve the population problem, end illiteracy, and live healthier, better lives. When policy makers finally realize that the poor are their partners, rather than bystanders or enemies, we will progress much faster than we do today.
This, folks, is what economic justice is all about.
We're putting Yunus' book at the top of your holiday gift list:
Banker to the Poor is a must-read for those interested in socially-responsible investments. It’s also good for those interested in charity, or in economics. Yunus has an agreeable style: he’s both humble and candid. I expected the book to be dry, the work of an economics professor. It is the work of an economics professor, but it’s anything but dry.
Hey, we're all about encouraging socially-responsible investing here at the Trust Fund.
If you get a chance, check out this video from the Grameen Bank about their microfinance work, and be sure to visit their website:
Hopefully someday we will see a world free from poverty, but it's going to take a lot of work to get there. Time to roll up your sleeves.
Noun: a settlement of differences by mutual concessions; an agreement reached by adjustment of conflicting or opposing claims, principles, etc., by reciprocal modification of demands.
Today's word of the day is brought to you by our friends at the Michigan Nonprofit Association:
Policymakers are elected to represent their districts. We all know this. But “representation” means different things to different people. Some say representation means voting in whatever way the majority of their constituents desire. Others say representation means voting for whatever would ultimately be in the best interest of their district, whether this means agreeing or disagreeing with the majority of the populous and making decisions between short-term and long-term interests that might be contradictory. And while most legislators claim to subscribe to one of these philosophies, rarely will you find an individual that doesn’t cross the fence to the other theory of thought at one time or another.
I say all this because I recognize that the policymakers addressing our state’s fiscal crisis represent varying schools of thought and very different constituencies. I don’t expect them to easily solve the massive budget hole, nor would I want them to. With as diverse a population as the state of Michigan holds, debate is key to sound public policy.
But it’s time for a compromise.
We’ve been going at this budget deficit for several years, and to be bluntly honest, the resolution thus far has pretty much gone one way. We’ve had budget cuts and budget cuts and more budget cuts.
And it’s time for a compromise.
That’s what politics is all about. Differing ideologies, conversing and dialoguing and debating each other on behalf of their differing constituencies, ultimately coming to some sort of compromise. Why? Because we represent different people, and as difficult as it is, our collective responsibility is to look out for all of them.
That’s done through compromise.
The state's constitution requires that a balanced budget must be in place for the fiscal year beginning on October 1... now less than two weeks away.
It's time for our legislators to come together and reach a bipartisan agreement that solves our state's structural deficit once and for all.
How they do it is up to them. Of course, our preference is for them to make the choice to invest in our state's economic recovery by funding the Michigan Housing and Community Development Fund. Whatever they decide though, we need to have this solved, and the sooner the better.
Like Bono once said, "compromise is not a dirty word."
For the latest news on the budget, be sure to keep an eye on MLive.com over the coming days.
This is a decidedly non-political blog. However, the decisions made by politicians obviously have a huge impact on our industry. So, regardless of which party or candidate you may be supporting in the 2008 presidential race, this editorial from the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune is something we should all take to heart:
The "American Dream" of an affordable home is something most people care about, both for themselves and as a foundation for a strong economy.
But this important social and economic issue is being largely ignored or forgotten in the presidential sweepstakes. Meanwhile, from Wall Street to Main Street, the affordable housing issue is being overshadowed by the credit crisis sparked by the implosion of subprime lenders.
But the people are way out in front of the candidates on affordable housing. A recent Zogby Poll said that 70 percent of Americans are more likely to choose a 2008 presidential candidate who articulates a plan for providing affordable housing.
The war in Iraq continues to (somewhat justifiably) be the issue we hear most about in the media as far as the presidential race is concerned. However, with last month's jobs report hinting at a recession, it seems clear that our country simply cannot afford to ignore important bread and butter economic issues, such as affordable housing.
In the past, affordable housing has been dumped into a pile of issues that affected people living at or near the poverty line. Now, it's clear that finding affordable housing is becoming much harder for middle-class working families, as well as very low income people, seniors on fixed-incomes and people with mental or physical disabilities.
In many cities around the country, teachers, police, firefighters and service-industry workers cannot afford to live in the communities where they work.
The first question to ask a presidential candidate is how will he or she get the federal government back into the affordable housing business?
I would say that last question is something we should be asking all of our elected officials. At the state level, we still have good initiatives like the Michigan Housing and Community Development Fund that have received lukewarm support as Legislators have been grappling with the worst budget crisis in decades.
Affordable housing is literally the foundation of the American economy. While all levels of government are constantly preoccupied with short-term budgetary issues, the ability of consumers to afford a home is something that affects all other aspects of economic activity. This is not an issue that we can simply ignore.
If you get a chance, go read the whole editorial. It's great to see that an important paper like the Star Tribune in Minneapolis-St. Paul (which is playing host to the 2008 Republican National Convention) is putting this issue front and center. Hopef