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 BlueCrossBlueShield 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.