City Council Wants Developers to Deliver Jobs

[313rd]

There are not enough qualified Detroit Residents for these projects. End of story. As a contractor who has worked on numerous projects with these requirements, I run into this issue all the time. When you bid on a project you expect to get an average of 100 widgets per day installed with your current experienced workforce. Then when you are required for Detroit Residents to get the same production of 100 widgets...it doesn't happen. You then will lose money. If you try to adjust your bid to reflect the average, your bid will be to high and not competitive.

Executive Order No. 2007-1

This Executive Order directs City departments and agencies to implement utilization of Detoit City residents on all construction projects funded, in whole or in part, by the City. [[This Executive Order supersedes Executive Order No. 22).
The goal is 51% of the workforce and hours performed on the project shall be bona-fide Detroit residents.

[mwilbert]

There are not enough qualified Detroit Residents for these projects. End of story. As a contractor who has worked on numerous projects with these requirements, I run into this issue all the time. When you bid on a project you expect to get an average of 100 widgets per day installed with your current experienced workforce. Then when you are required for Detroit Residents to get the same production of 100 widgets...it doesn't happen. You then will lose money. If you try to adjust your bid to reflect the average, your bid will be to high and not competitive.

Executive Order No. 2007-1

This Executive Order directs City departments and agencies to implement utilization of Detoit City residents on all construction projects funded, in whole or in part, by the City. [[This Executive Order supersedes Executive Order No. 22).
The goal is 51% of the workforce and hours performed on the project shall be bona-fide Detroit residents.

A goal like this only makes sense if you assume there are adequate skilled people available.

If not, you can only make it work with strict enforcement, because there is too big an incentive not to hire unproductive workers; if you don't police it you are only going to be rewarding the non-compliant contractors. My experience with the enforcement of contract compliance does not make me optimistic that this is likely, and probably less so when it comes to these goals being effectively monitored by the City. And of course, even if you are able to hire compliant contractors it isn't obvious that it is worth it for the city to pay more for projects just to employ more Detroit residents--that approach leads in fiscally dangerous directions.

I don't know whether there is actually a shortage of appropriately skilled Detroiters, although I have no reason to doubt 313rd. If there is, it seems to me that might make more sense for the city to require some number of Detroit-resident apprentices on jobs instead.

[Detroitnerd]

George Jackson is against it.

So, judging by his record, I'm going to have to say I'm for it.

Good job, city council.

[motz]

There are not enough qualified Detroit Residents for these projects. End of story. As a contractor who has worked on numerous projects with these requirements, I run into this issue all the time. When you bid on a project you expect to get an average of 100 widgets per day installed with your current experienced workforce. Then when you are required for Detroit Residents to get the same production of 100 widgets...it doesn't happen. You then will lose money. If you try to adjust your bid to reflect the average, your bid will be to high and not competitive.

Executive Order No. 2007-1

This Executive Order directs City departments and agencies to implement utilization of Detoit City residents on all construction projects funded, in whole or in part, by the City. [[This Executive Order supersedes Executive Order No. 22).
The goal is 51% of the workforce and hours performed on the project shall be bona-fide Detroit residents.

http://www.freep.com/article/2014060...ing-detroiters
It's almost as though Marathon wanted the tax breaks, but didn't want to actually employ people. Huh, imagine that.

[bailey]

There are not enough qualified Detroit Residents for these projects. End of story. As a contractor who has worked on numerous projects with these requirements, I run into this issue all the time. When you bid on a project you expect to get an average of 100 widgets per day installed with your current experienced workforce. Then when you are required for Detroit Residents to get the same production of 100 widgets...it doesn't happen. You then will lose money. If you try to adjust your bid to reflect the average, your bid will be to high and not competitive.

Executive Order No. 2007-1

This Executive Order directs City departments and agencies to implement utilization of Detoit City residents on all construction projects funded, in whole or in part, by the City. [[This Executive Order supersedes Executive Order No. 22).
The goal is 51% of the workforce and hours performed on the project shall be bona-fide Detroit residents.

Valid point, but isn't part of the issue here that Marathon promised it'd hire folks that completed the requisite training...and then didn't hire any of them?

[313rd]

It also depends on the job, with the extent of compliance coordination. Some are very strict and other are very lax.