Kettering High School Becomes auto parts manufacturer

[Richard]

New life for the former Detroit Kettering High School has been transformed into an auto parts plant bringing with it hundreds of jobs.
Dignitaries and the who’s who of the automotive industry were on the city's east side at the unveiling of Dakkota Integrated Systems' new plant.

"Dakkota is one of the largest Native American women-owned led companies in America," said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/dak...roit-kettering

Wait - I cannot hear you,did you say manufacturing will never return ?

Good job for all those involved.

[stasu1213]

A win win for Detroiters who can't find jobs. Kwame had said years ago "Put down the weed and get off the porch" or something as such

[Henry Whalley]

... Kwame had said years ago "Put down the weed and get off the porch" or something as such

He may have said "Put down my competitors weed, get off the porch, and go sell my weed" or some such.

[Richard]

Here is an interesting read that explains a lot with cause and effect

https://www.heritage.org/poverty-and...after-50-years

Warning - Contains multiple paragraphs which may cause a traumatic experience for some who have a limited attention span.

I think depending on the wage and opportunity it would be easy enough for somebody to move to the city in order to qualify,or use somebody that already lives in the city address without actually living there?

I believe it was Livonia that was the only city in the region that took advantage of the federal backed funding for skills and advanced skills training programs,everybody else was more into the resist thing,it probably was not the most productive move if a city is looking to have a higher trained workforce.

Not really sure how a city can force a company to employ locally but yet forgo the very tools that are needed to prepare them for employment opportunities.

[K-slice]

Every new industrial building is soooo ugly! The city should update zoning to require a wall of trees be planted between these windowless pole barns and the street.

I mean, great for the city 100% but I can't imagine anyone will want to live in a home where something like this is their neighbor.

[stasu1213]

Here is an interesting read that explains a lot with cause and effect

https://www.heritage.org/poverty-and...after-50-years

Warning - Contains multiple paragraphs which may cause a traumatic experience for some who have a limited attention span.

I think depending on the wage and opportunity it would be easy enough for somebody to move to the city in order to qualify,or use somebody that already lives in the city address without actually living there?

I believe it was Livonia that was the only city in the region that took advantage of the federal backed funding for skills and advanced skills training programs,everybody else was more into the resist thing,it probably was not the most productive move if a city is looking to have a higher trained workforce.

Not really sure how a city can force a company to employ locally but yet forgo the very tools that are needed to prepare them for employment opportunities.

That is probably the reason why high rises downtown take so long to be completed. It s not that Dan Gilbert have trouble finding construction workers. It's probably that he can't find 51% of residents living inside the city who have the qualifications to apply for the jobs. Detroit need to focus on getting vocational classes back into these schools instead of opening mote fly by night academies and pushing STEM programs as a one size fit all learning curriculum for students

[Zacha341]

Yep. That sounds right! The ends justify is a great deal for some.

He may have said "Put down my competitors weed, get off the porch, and go sell my weed" or some such.

[renf]

Is the former southwestern high school campus among the next former
Detroit schools to become a manufacturing location? This site was
developed by, I believe, a parts supplier and operated as such for a couple of years. Then that firm closed or moved away. Do I recall that the Bedrock real estate firm bought the site and, quite recently, announced
that a manufacturing firm will locate there?
Even though the number of hours of labor needed to assemble an electric vehicle will be less than the number required for a traditional gas powered vehicle, there will be very many parts needed for electric vehicles and many of them will be made in the Detroit area.

[Richard]

Up until recently the school districts would not sell the unused schools,if they did it was rare,it did not matter that the empty building was falling down,it was the dirt that they sat on that retained a value on the balance sheet.

More so in Detroit that was changed a few years back with requirements,you have to provide a plan and the proof of funds over and above of what your intended use will be,before you could even bid on them.

I can see if somebody that did not have that backing on their own,useing somebody such as Bedrock as a backer or proxy,they are pennys on the dollar to purchase so it is kinda a no lose situation for Bedrock.

The 15-18 year olds that enter the training aspect now,will not really see the returns until their mid 20s to 30s when they achieve the skill levels that draw a good salary.

So that prepares the workforce for 10 - 15 years into the future,but you still have the here and now and if you are requiring locals to be hired and they are not trained you will not get companies tripping over themselves to locate there.

I think you are going to have to incentivize people to move there in order to fill the gap,it’s kinda a chicken and the egg thing.

Example

Rooms To Go is a furniture place,when they moved their headquarters to Florida,they actually paid all of their suppliers to move also,including their employees if they chose to do so,most of their suppliers were small businesses that built the products for Rooms To Go,they even provided the small business loans to purchase property and establish a footing,Rooms To Go are not the only customer for those companies and are not required to produce strictly for them.

To me anyways that would be the target,because you are not only adding another company but you are also increasing the population level of the city,it’s not a matter of sitting there waiting for things to happen.

The city is 20 years behind the curve of having a ready trained workforce,the intent of hire locally is understandable but it is not a single prong approach and at this point it may be more counter productive while not providing flexibility.

It’s hard to command a premium when you are not offering a premium product,sounds harsh like that,but the city can say something like,we will salary match 10% of your workforce if you bring them in under a training program,so if at the start of the training program it’s a $15 per hour job,the company pays $7.50 and the city pays $7.50,it’s actually spending less taxpayer money to train somebody,they are working while they are being trained.

I have no clue if something like that is even feasible,other then it’s been done else where before and worked.

Thats the problem though,when you have a city council and some residents that stands on their soap box and tells others city businesses is nobody else’s business and we have no room for outsiders,you are putting yourself in a box,unable or unwilling to think outside of it,if you cannot see who is actually paying the price for that by now,highly unlikely you never will and the problem will continue to escalate.

All of this fake save the planet crap is pumping billions into the industry at a level that the region has not seen sense Henry Ford days,I kinda think if that is not taken advantage of now you are going to be last in line pretty quick,even worse because you already have the advantage when compared to a lot of other cities and states,gotta figure out how to exploit that.

In the Packard thread I proposed joint venturing with a Taiwan chip manufacturer,but the reality is,would not be able to do it without also bringing a large percentage of Taiwanese workforce along with them,simply because nobody in the country is actually trained in that field at that extent.

With green it’s new technology,nobody has a workforce trained for it yet,so you really cannot demand a percentage of a workforce of over 50% of people that will never reach that level of skill in their lifetime,you are asking companies to carry 1/2 of their workforce with dead weight,it’s not economically feasible.

Calling it deadweight is not a diss on workers,not everybody is able to achieve that skill level,I certainly would be considered dead weight in that situation that’s not to say 30 years ago with proper training I would not be.

I think it is plausible to have a percentage that comes in at the entry level and productive for both the city and companies by blending in with what you have and what you do not have.

You are asking companies that need highly skilled workers to carry over 50% of their workforce as unskilled right out of the gate,it’s not even remotely feasible.