The Detroit Renaissance is pleased to announce the release of the results of a statewide survey amongst Michigan voters. The survey, conducted by Glengariff Group, Inc. is also the subject of a special podcast with Dave Brandon, CEO of Domino’s Pizza and Chair of the Detroit Renaissance, and David Bing, CEO of the Bing Group and a member of the Detroit Renaissance Executive Committee. Host and President of Detroit Renaissance Doug Rothwell discusses the findings in the survey, including voters’ wants for major government reform.

The public opinion poll found that over 80% of Michigan voters, regardless of demographic differences, believe the state is on the wrong track. 87% of voters feel that Michigan’s political leaders are doing a fair or poor job on budgeting and spending. These statistics and others are discussed during the podcast conversation, as well as several proposed ideas for reform. The top six reform ideas include:

•    Find other means of punishment for non violent offenders other than prison
•    Increase premiums for state employee health care
•    Change the retirement system for new teachers
•    Increase deductions/co-pays for employee health care
•    Impose small co-pays for Medicaid
•    Release some non violent offenders before parole

Doug Rothwell had this to say: “These results confirm our assertions that we need a greater sense of urgency to address structural reforms, not just incremental budget cuts and one-time fixes. Only meaningful structural reforms will give businesses a greater sense of confidence in Michigan’s future as a good place to do business.”

You can download and read the full opinion poll results report here.

You can also listen and download the podcast here, or subscribe to our RSS feed.

In this week’s “50 CEO’s on the D: Detroit Renaissance Reports,” Doug Rothwell speaks with Tony Earley, Chairman and CEO of DTE Energy and Board Member of the Detroit Renaissance .

Host Doug Rothwell and Earley discuss how regulation of energy resources will prepare us for a successful future.

"Energy is crucial to a state like Michigan. We are very energy intensive," says Tony, "The energy users here in the state are large users of both electricity and natural gas and therefore we have to have a very stable, reliable infrastructure for the future."

Tony takes his expertise from his years working closely in the energy industry, and shares his experience in order to inform and inspire the people of Detroit and Southeast Michigan.

Listen to the podcast here, or subscribe via your RSS reader, or via iTunes.

In this week’s “50 CEO’s on the D: Detroit Renaissance Reports,” Doug Rothwell speaks with Florine Mark, President and CEO of the WW Group.

Host Doug Rothwell and Florine discuss how being individual ambassadors for the city of Detroit could empower Detroit.

“We’ve got the greatest city and state, I feel, in the union," Florine says.  "We have got more wonderful things, yet I hear people saying ‘Oh, I don’t want to go downtown.’… We’ve got a fabulous downtown and it’s getting better and better and better.” 

Florine Mark challenges people to get involved in Detroit, to learn about what is being done to revitalize it, and to learn to see Detroit the way she sees it herself.

Listen to the podcast here, or subscribe via your RSS reader, or via iTunes.

In this week’s “50 CEO’s on the D: Detroit Renaissance Reports,” Doug Rothwell speaks with Randy Agley, Chairman of the Talon Group.

Agely speaks with host Doug Rothwell about how Detroit and Southeast Michigan must undergo the necessary steps in order to become a more attractive place for entrepreneurs. He notes that this will also take some sacrifice and good leadership to happen.

“We’ve relied, in the past, on the auto industry to generate growth in Michigan, but that isn’t where the future lies for us,” says Agley, “There are plenty of entrepreneurs sprouting up, but we have to change the generic factors in Michigan to make it more appealing. We need to establish a tax environment that is competitive, or more competitive than other states, and we don’t have that yet.”

Agley also shares his take on why education is so important, especially to keep students in the area productive and engaged.

Listen to the podcast here, or subscribe via your RSS reader or via iTunes.

The Road to Renaissance Quarterly Progress Report for July 2008 is now available for download.

The report details completed tasks and next steps for each priority of the Road to Renaissance plan.

To download the report, click here.

Detroit Renaissance is pleased to announce the release of 2 new documents available for download.

The first is the Detroit Renaissance Foundation Creative Corridor Branding & Marketing Plan, which is a comprehensive view of the brand and marketing strategy surrounding the Creative Corridor. It is available for download here as a .doc file.

Also available is the Growing Greater Detroit’s Creative Economy Executive Summary. The report summarizes the studies and analyses in the development of the Creative Corridor. This document is available for download here in PDF format.

In this week’s “50 CEO’s on the D: Detroit Renaissance Reports,” Doug Rothwell speaks with Dave Boyle, President of National City Bank of Michigan.

Boyle speaks about the tough choices that public and private partnerships must face in order for them to grow individually. He notes that additionally, in order for change to happen, there needs to be structural reform first.

“Dave’s honesty and ideas are just the type of traits we need in order to keep moving forward,” said Detroit Renaissance’s President Doug Rothwell, who also serves as the show’s host, “It’s about leadership and looking for ways to reduce redundancy. Dave’s ideas could be a bit controversial, but they’re the brutal truth.”

Boyle’s transformational way of thinking reminds Detroit residents that there will have to be change over time in order for there to be growth later, and it is not the type of thing that can happen overnight.

Listen to the podcast here, or subscribe via your RSS reader or via iTunes.

In this week’s “50 CEO’s on the D: Detroit Renaissance Reports,” Doug Rothwell speaks with Chris Ilitch of Ilitch Holdings, Inc.

Ilitch and host Doug Rothwell discuss the necessity of sharing success stories in order to inspire young and upcoming entrepreneurs. He also concentrates on fostering creative growth so that companies will continue to expand and attract new businesses to the area.

“As a businessperson, you can look at what’s happening in the Southeast Michigan area two ways: you can see the struggles that the area is facing, or you can look at the opportunities,” Ilitch says, “It’s crucial that we leverage those opportunities by fostering the creative class and by continuing to plant seeds for future entrepreneurs. “

Ilitch and Rothwell go on to discuss the Creative Corridor and other initiatives taking place as part of the Detroit Renaissance’s revitalization plans.

Listen to the podcast here, or subscribe via your RSS reader or via iTunes.

Detroit’s creative sector is nothing to scoff at. With over 33,000 people working as advertisers, architects, writers, designers, and graphic artists, this aspect of Detroit’s work force is growing and staying on par with the rest of the country. In fact, according to a report by AngelouEconomics, creative industries pay more in Detroit than the national average. It’s just one of the many statistics that make Detroit’s creative class stand out.

In a recent article in Crain’s, writers Amy Whitesall and Maureen McDonald explore Detroit’s creative sector from the larger picture to the personal, and they expand on some of the details that make the “D” a creative hub:

In just three months last summer, almost 100,000 new travelers from Ohio and Indiana came to Detroit. An independent research company was able to trace those visits directly to D Brand materials. Those visitors pumped $70 million into the local economy. In 2006, the number of large conventions in the region grew by 50 percent, and the amount of business generated by those conventions grew 40 percent.

In a related article, Crain’s writer Kevin Hill urges readers to explore and expand the new website for creatives, DetroitMakeItHere.com:

Please kick the tires: register, create a profile, interact with your colleagues and other users, and post your own writings, photos and videos.

The site contains a free, searchable database of more than 1,600 creative companies in the region and exclusive Web-only stories, multimedia, how-to resources and more. You'll see it change a bit over the coming months, as we respond to your suggestions.

Blog Michigan Future, which covers “The Ongoing Story of Michigan’s Transformation,” had a post recently announcing Detroit Renaissance’s launch of the Creative Economy Initiative. They cite our own Doug Rothwell, who had this to say:

"We all know that we have a breadth of creative assets here in our region and this effort will not only build on these assets but allow us let the rest of the world know this is a great place to locate a creative business, source creative work or reside if you're a creative worker."

New Economy Strategies has prepared a Creative Business Accelerator Strategy for the Detroit Renaissance, and it is now available to download and view. The document examines the new role of business accelerators, as well as several case studies of locations where these accelerators have been most effective.

Concerning the new role of business accelerators, the NES explains that “’virtual incubators’ have emphasized social networking, technical consulting, and partner reliance over attempting to replicate all required services on-site in a single office.”

In exploring this, there are many questions that are raised for most business incubators, such as: What sustainable funding will be available to support our business accelerator? or How do we plan to grow our service level? These questions must be address in order to determine the success of any proposed incubator.

The case studies presented were chosen on a number of factors, including key initiatives and target industries. Some notable locations include Winston-Salem, North Carolina, whose Center for Design Innovation “focuses on design as an intersection point for a variety of industries including film, media arts, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing.” This sort of initiative compliments Detroit’s own creative business accelerator.

London’s Creative Business Accelerator also supports creative businesses in the area and serves as an accurate example of an area with similar goals to those of Detroit. These and other case studies provide a look into the future of Southeast Michigan and what the development of a Creative Business Accelerator can be capable of. You can download and read the PDF of the full report here.