Glass half full or empty?
There are always different ways in which a person can view things. They can either take a negative approach or try to find the ugly in situations, or they can try to make the best of things and learn from experiences. I recently read in Crain’s Detroit that Michigan unemployment rate jumped in April to 7.1% from 6.4% in March according to the Michigan Department of Labor & Economic Growth. Michigan’s unemployment rate is the highest in the country with the exception of Mississippi which is at 7.5%. The lowest unemployment rate in the country is in Hawaii with unemployment being 2% followed by Utah at 2.6%.
I look at all of these horrific stats, and instead of it making me depressed about our economy; I use it as a motivator to change the number and to make a difference. That percentage won’t change over night and it won’t be easy. But with enough people that have passion about changing our economy and actually doing something about it, I have hope that it will turn around. Jobs aren’t going to be magically created by someone else. People have to have the mentality that now more than ever you have to go out there, work hard, and do something about this economy whether it be to start your own business, or take a pay cut temporarily, now is the time. Its sink or swim, and I’m swimming.
Meeting of the Minds…
A powerhouse entourage came to Bizdom U last week with members consisting of Dan Gilbert, Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and
Detroit real estate mogul Gary Torgow. We discussed issues regarding Detroit’s economy, the initiatives and efforts lined up to fix it, what we could personally do to help, and much more. It was an honor to be surrounded by such important and influential people to discuss real problems and hear their input. One common theme that was discusses was the notion of business moving down to
Detroit, small or large, to help revitalize the downtown area. Mayor Kilpatrick discussed how great it would be for Dan Gilbert and Quicken Loans to come to
Detroit and how great it would be for the city.
Another issue that we discussed is how businesses, retail shops, residential etc. are all so spread out over the city and the problems behind that. If there was a centralized location where businesses opened up, new homes and condominiums were built, and a more centralized area, that would be much more efficient than having random pockets of all of these dispersed all over the city.
A question that I asked the Mayor was regarding the recent deal that Detroit and
Windsor are going through to lease our half of the Detroit-Windsor tunnel to them. I asked him “Is leasing our half of the tunnel to them now, a short term solution to a long term problem receiving the funds immediately? And moreover, once our economy does bounce back, won’t we have lost one of our greatest assets to the city?” In a nutshell I asked if it was a good deal. With a firm and powerful response he said “It’s absolutely it’s a great deal for the city of
Detroit!” He then went into further detail and spoke about the numbers and why it made sense for us to pursue this deal.
Kwame stressed multiple times the importance of Dan Gilbert in the process of revitalizing the city of
Detroit. He has already taken some substantial steps in this process ergo Bizdom U, but I am excited to see what the future holds and when Dan does decide to move down to Detroit.
