Bing: Detroit getting better for businesses

City makes creating jobs, reducing crime priority, mayor says

Jaclyn Trop / The Detroit News

Detroit — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said his administration is in the process of making Detroit a better place where businesses can invest their money.

"We can't expect businesses to move into our city or expand in our city if they don't feel safe," Bing said Friday morning in his second annual address to the city's business community.

Reducing crime and creating jobs are two key priorities, said Bing, who has announced he will seek re-election in 2013. The homicide rate last year fell 15 percent, he said. "We cannot fix Detroit in one term," he said. "I'm not sure we can fix it in two terms."

Businesses created nearly 7,000 jobs and invested $120 million in Detroit last year, he said. Most of those jobs — 6,000 — came from major local employers General Motors Corp., Quicken Loans Inc. and BlueCrossBlueShieldhttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adT...lass_10x10.gif of Michigan.

But medium-size companies such as GalaxE Solutions, which plans to create 300 to 500 jobs within the next few years, are also stepping up to the plate, the mayor said.

Bing, the founder and former CEO of a now-defunct steel supplier, called upon the audience at the Westin Book Cadillac and business people to look at opportunities to grow their companies in Detroit.

"I think traditionally Detroit was looked at as a city that wasn't open for business," Bing said.

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citing as an example China's desire to invest in automotive ventures.

So if we look at how that works is they use their gov money provided by us from buying their cheap products to bring a business,they have lots of cash and can afford the losses to undercut everybody else and force them out of business then they become a controlling factor and why is Mercedes,BMW,Honda etc located in the Southern states located close to the German steel plants?

But really if it is widely known that the US car growth market is maxed and the big three are building plants in overseas countries what other reason would a Chinese company want to spend billions getting into the US market other then to control the bits and pieces of the currant manufactures.

"Land is pretty cheap," Bing said, "and we can cut some deals."

Real estate = Location Location Location it is cheap because it is offset but much higher other costs so it is still comparatively consistent with other cities. There is more to it then just the dirt.

Detroit's subpar public education system and the three generations of graduates who lack basic reading skills have created a weaker labor pool that undercuts the mayor's goal of making Detroit attractive to companies looking to hire workers,

It goes back to investing in the future or not ,so who is going to work in the chinese factory? Because that will be next ,we had to bring workers in from elsewhere so those 3 generations are stuck where?

But all in all nice speech and it is not all doom and gloom.

Bing has the right idea. Attracting business isn't just dollars and cents, though that is a major factor. Perhaps more important is how easy it is to open a business. Let's compare:

Detroit's business website:
http://www.ci.detroit.mi.us/Business...7/Default.aspx

First page - "How do I open a business in Detroit?" Here's what you do - one, two, three. Could use a bit more info, but it's clear and concise.

Cleveland's business website:
http://www.city.cleveland.oh.us/City.../Home/Business

Loads of info and it looks pretty slick, but how the heck do I open a taco stand? Where do I register? How do I get a tax ID? Where is the contact info for the planning/development department? Ugh...

...Is Bing willing to visit China to pitch for bringing business projects/investors here? I have written to him regarding this and taped a video message at one of those Detroit Works community meetings..

While I don't think they can hurt, trade trips are more about photo-ops than they are bringing enough jobs in to make a difference. Lest we forget, Kilpatrick was hopping all over the UAE and Middle East, and Granholm went all around the world. Her's often yielded investment back home, but so little as for it to just be a drop in the bucket., even in the long-term. What Bing is currently doing seems to be more than adequate if you ask me. All of the tools are already in use; all he needs to do is to keep improving the credibility of city government, and so long as the business community knows that they are dealing with fair dealers and honest brokers, they'll give Detroit a look-see like they have been doing.

To touch on the China investing view.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker...1jY290dGVyYw--

While Kwame through parties, Bing did this thing! Fixing up Detroit back to its renaissance.