On a cold Wednesday night in mid-December I was fortunate enough to attend the Detroit Regional Chamber Opportunity Detroit event hosted at the Gem Theatre in Detroit.  The Gem Theatre is a beautiful venue located right across the street from Ford Field and the Detroit Music Hall.

The event began with a few appetizers and drinks, but the presentations began promptly with Sandy Baruah, President and CEO of the Detroit Regional Chamber, explaining how important the chamber and its partners are to events such as Opportunity Detroit. The theme of collaboration and innovation would continue throughout the night.

After the introduction, Sandy introduced the CEO of the Henry Ford Health System, Nancy Schlichting. Ms. Schlichting touched on Henry Ford’s commitment to Detroit and attracting new business by creating a higher standard of living through quality health care. Henry Ford will continue their commitment to quality care by merging with Beaumont Health System and with the creation of the Henry Ford Innovation Center.  Ms. Schlichting was adamant that collaboration is the key to innovation which spurs success.  In order to be successful, Ms. Schlichting noted, leaders must step up and take appropriate risks, such as the Innovation Center.

Finally, as Ms. Schlichting concluded her key note address, she handed to microphone to Tammy Carnrike, the Chief Operating Officer of the Detroit Regional Chamber and the moderator for the main panel.  The panel consisted of five innovative and collaborative minds in the Detroit Metro Region including:

Jason Raznick—CEO and Co-Founder of Benzinga

Jacques Panis—Shinola

Michael Webster—Executive Vice President and General Manager of Kelly Services America

Nathan Labenz— Co-Founder of Stik.com

John Fikany—Vice President and General Manger of Microsoft, Michigan

Two questions were posed to the pane.  First, why did the panelists chose to locate their businesses in the Detroit Region?

John:

The Microsoft Tech Center was designed for collaboration.  They wanted to use the facility to take on big challenges and build strategies to complete their challenges.  Their space is roughly 17,000 square feet comprising of their prized area called the Eleanor Josaitis Envisioning Center.  They specifically use the space to collaborate with others, such as University of Michigan and Lawrence Tech students.  Due to the cluster of tech/ R&D talent and resources in the area Microsoft decided to locate 1 of 11 U.S. centers (only 26 centers are located throughout the world) in Southfield.

Nathan:

He started a little over two years ago, and is one of the few that started in Silicon Valley and recently relocated to Detroit.  He is originally from the Detroit Metro Area, but left for school (Harvard) and then work.  He recognized the talent pool here, and also the lack of competition.  He reached out to Detroit Venture Partners about six months ago and two months after that he moved to Detroit.

Michael:

Kelly Services was originally founded in Troy, and their world headquarters still remains there.  He noted that education matters and matching educated people with job is so important today.  Mr. Webster highlighted young people’s unemployment rate being one of the lowest in the county if you have a college education. Although there are many young people available, Mr. Webster stated, businesses need to be more flexible to attract the top talent. Employees don’t stick to the same company for 30 years like they used, according to Mike.  Instead, the job market fluctuates too much for people to stay at one place for their entire career.

Jacques:

Shinola leased the fifth floor of the Taubman Center from the College of Creative Studies.  His goal is to use local talent to produce quality products. Shinola’s major product is quartz movements (clocks), which have not been made in the US in over 40 years according to Jacques.  One major reason he decided to do business here was the manufacturing resources already available stating, “If you really dig here, you can find anything.”  So far he has hired 30 people with plans to increase as business begins.  He believes Shinola can be the one of the world’s largest suppliers of quartz watches in the future.

Jason:

Jason started Benzinga a little over 2.5 years ago in his basement.  He believes there is something to prove in Michigan because of places like Silicon Valley.  One important way to reach success, he said, was to create a strong network.  Further, he touched on the talent pool in Michigan, stating that it is not just about finding talent in Michigan before they leave for other opportunities, but also attracting talent from elsewhere.  In order to accomplish this, Jason believes you must create a great message and constantly spread it.

The second question posed asked, “what do we need to do to put Detroit and Southeast Michigan on the map?

Although everyone touched on the topic, two major themes were discussed by everyone.  First, becoming a Detroit Ambassador is the most beneficial and useful method to get your message out to others. People should try to paint a positive image of the city, and help each other out in tough times.  Further, business leaders must have a pipeline and network of people to draw resources to the area.

Finally after the panelists two major announcements were made.  First the Vice President of Rock Ventures, Lisa Dancsok, presented the new Opportunity Detroit brand featuring the new Kid Rock infused commercial that aired during the World Series. She asked everyone, “How can you collaborate to make this the best Detroit Bran ever had?”

After Lisa, Sandy Baruah came back to the stage and outlined the Detroit Regional Chamber’s new focus.  Instead of focusing on many different tasks, the Detroit Regional Chamber will focus on four key concepts:

1) Regional Collaboration

2) Economic Development

3) Education Reform

4) Membership Value

In addition, he believes a stronger east-west connection with the Grand Rapids Regional Chamber will also be hugely beneficial for the future of SE Michigan.

Overall it was a great night to meet people and hear about the amazing direction some of the most important Detroit institutions and organizations are working on for the future of the city.