[0:00] Great. So, our panelists today are
Maureen Donahue Krause, who is president
[0:04] and CEO of the Detroit Regional
Partnership and also a delegate at large
[0:10] to the SEMCOG Executive Committee. DRP
is a non-profit economic development
[0:14] organization that recruits domestic and
international companies by sharing
[0:19] Detroit's economic story with the world.
Next we have Enrico Tai, who is
[0:24] president of the Michigan Manufacturing
Technology Center and formerly the
[0:28] director of Oakland County Economic
Development. MMTC provides personalized
[0:33] consulting services that enable Michigan
manufacturers to work smarter, compete,
[0:38] and prosper. And finally, we have Glenn
Stevens, who serves as the economic
[0:43] executive director of MichAuto and is
also the chief automotive and innovation
[0:48] officer for the Detroit Regional
Chamber. MichAuto promotes, retains, and
[0:52] grows Michigan's signature industry as
the state's only automotive and mobility
[0:57] association. So, welcome all of you.
So, my first question is for all of you.
[1:03] Um since resiliency is the theme of our
discussion, I'd like you to all briefly
[1:09] um
introduce your organizations and how
[1:12] your organization defines economic
resilience.
[1:16] So, Maureen?
>> Sure. Thank you so much Naheed and it's
[1:19] really a pleasure to be with all of you
here today. The Detroit Regional
[1:23] Partnership works to market, grow, and
support our region. It's a little bit
[1:28] bigger than the SEMCOG region. It's
about 5 and 1/2 million residents. Not a
[1:32] government formula region, but it really
is a self-chosen region of people who
[1:37] believe that when we combine our assets,
we'll be more successful. And I think in
[1:43] our first 6 years of operation, we have
shown that with over 40,000 new jobs in
[1:48] this region and well over 10 billion
dollars in new investment. So, how do we
[1:54] make sure that we are ahead of the game,
which is what resilience really is. It's
[1:58] certainly the ability to
um you know, the overused word from a
[2:02] few years ago, but pivot to
distractions, disturbances, disruptors
[2:07] in our economy, both local, national,
and international. Uh we our work is
[2:13] very data-driven and very strategic, but
we're always evaluating
[2:18] is what we're doing working, and what
should we be looking at next? So, it's
[2:23] very important that we are able to be
nimble in our work.
[2:29] Not just for DRP, of course, but for our
region. Um we always have we also have
[2:34] to be strategic. So, we just updated our
three-year strategic plan at the DRP, um
[2:40] once again, building on what has worked,
what didn't work, and where we think the
[2:43] future is going. And certainly this SUDs
plan is just something that we look to
[2:49] to help to guide us in where we need to
be going as a region.
[2:54] You know, the other piece I'll talk
about resilience is
[2:58] working together.
And um for those of you of you who were
[3:03] fortunate or unfortunate enough to hear
me speak yesterday on this topic,
[3:07] there's a few people in here who've
heard me way too much this week. Um
[3:11] but you know, we're at I believe, I've
worked in this region a long time, um
[3:16] well, most of my my career, most of my
career, um
[3:19] we're at a really terrific moment right
now, where this region is getting along
[3:23] better than anything I've seen in my
career. And when you have our leaders,
[3:28] like all of you, looking at working
together for the solutions that benefit
[3:33] all,
we're just going to win more. And I
[3:37] think that is part of being resilient is
knowing that every issue is not going to
[3:41] be a fight, but it's going to be a
gathering for solutions. So, I don't
[3:45] know, there may be one person in here
who's been around long enough to know
[3:50] someone I'm going to name, and that's
Benjam Petrone who I work with right out
[3:55] of college.
And he said one thing that has stuck
[3:58] with me my whole career that I want to
just leave as my takeaway here at this
[4:02] moment.
If we all agree on everything, then only
[4:06] one of us will be thinking.
[4:09] And it's actually really true. So, we
don't have to necessarily agree on, you
[4:13] know, all the intricate details, but the
overall where we want to go for our
[4:18] region is what's really important for
resiliency.
[4:21] » Okay, thank you, Maureen. And I just
remembered you were also with Oakland
[4:24] County Economic Development.
>> Yeah, yeah. We both had that job.
[4:26] » She laid the groundwork.
>> [laughter]
[4:28] » All right. Um Ingrid?
>> Uh good afternoon, everybody. Uh Ingrid
[4:32] Tai. I'm the president of Michigan
Manufacturing Technology Center. And we
[4:36] are a statewide organization that works
with small and medium-sized
[4:40] manufacturers. And we actually do
technical training and technical
[4:44] consulting with companies. So, we're on
the floor. Our folks um are primarily
[4:50] people who have come out of industry.
They're former engineers, plant
[4:53] managers,
um you quality control managers, etc.
[4:57] And so, they've been there, done that,
and they're going on to a plant floor.
[5:00] They are helping diagnose the health of
a company, and then laying out a roadmap
[5:05] of how that company can improve
everything from operational efficiency,
[5:09] layout, lean six sigma, quality
standards, certifications, um how do you
[5:14] implement technology into your business
to become better, to solve for workforce
[5:18] shortages, um how do you use AI? That's
the biggest thing we've been dealing
[5:22] with. And we even do supply chain
matchmaking. So, it's a very wide
[5:26] spectrum of services that we offer. Um
we are actually also part of a national
[5:31] network. There is one of us in every
single state. It's an initiative that
[5:35] started about 36 years ago through the
Department of Commerce under the Reagan
[5:39] administration. And it was under the
premise that we needed to bolster
[5:43] manufacturing throughout the United
States. Um that we need it was lagging,
[5:46] and we needed to bring it back and that
the small medium sized manufacturers are
[5:51] the backbone of that economy and how do
we compete with other countries like
[5:55] China?
So that that's how we got started and um
[5:59] why we're in existence and I think the
unique
[6:03] um
thing about [clears throat] the the
[6:05] mission uh of our organization is it's
about resiliency because we're
[6:09] technically an economic development
organization. We have this public
[6:12] service good. We're a non-profit where
we have the goal of going in and helping
[6:17] companies grow and thrive which in turn
create great jobs and a tax base for
[6:23] your communities um especially when we
get into like some of the more rural
[6:27] areas of our territories. I mean one
company is often employing many of the
[6:33] folks in that town or that city and if
that company doesn't do well or if they
[6:37] go under, that has a really detrimental
effect to that community. So we
[6:42] understand that's really important but
yet you've got this intersection of how
[6:45] do you run a business? So when it comes
to resilient um
[6:48] what we define resilient is helping
companies
[6:52] in navigate the business landscape um
whether it's becoming more profitable,
[6:56] reducing waste, dealing with tariff
policies, addressing supply chain
[7:00] backlogs and bottlenecks and issues,
understanding how you have to have
[7:04] backup plans. So we make that business
resilient so it in turn helps your your
[7:08] communities become more resilient.
>> Thank you.
[7:12] » Thanks everybody for for the opportunity
here. I guess this is what it's like to
[7:16] testify in front of United Nations.
>> [laughter]
[7:19] » That's what it must feel like. Um
so it's good to be on this panel. First
[7:22] of all, a shout out to Dave and David
and Dave and the whole the whole team. I
[7:27] did actually read the whole report and I
know all you did cuz you voted on it.
[7:32] But it's it's it's really solid. I mean
it's it's it is really solid and it'll
[7:36] be an input for a lot of other folks,
too.
[7:39] Um I I two hats. They work together.
Yes, I lead MichAuto and many of you
[7:44] know MichAuto. We work very got a couple
board member Vicky's from Macomb's on my
[7:49] board and we are
operating and we are getting up in the
[7:53] morning to promote, retain, and grow our
signature industry. It's not just
[7:57] automotive. It's the evolution of
mobility. It's the evolution of how tech
[8:01] intersects with that and energy cuz it's
all seamless today these days.
[8:06] And then the other hat I wear is I'm on
the the the chamber's management team
[8:09] and I head up I head up a lot of
different things but really one of my
[8:13] big focuses are innovation effort.
You'll hear more about a project we have
[8:18] called the Ann Arbor to Detroit regional
project corridor for innovation. You'll
[8:24] hear more about that and you'll hear
more about innovation as part of our
[8:28] economy. I know into the year years
ahead. But with regards to resiliency
[8:32] just real briefly, I think about it in
terms of inflection points. My staff,
[8:37] Paul, our head of government affairs
here, they
[8:39] they're like, oh, here he goes. He's
going to talk about inflection points
[8:41] again. But I mean it's an impact. It's a
technology impact. It's a competitive
[8:46] impact. Whether it's your business, your
city, your township, your team,
[8:51] your life, it's a force of change and
you have to be resilient to figure out
[8:55] how do I not get knocked off my game and
take the downward trajectory. How do I
[9:00] figure out the upper trajectory because
things don't stay the same. So,
[9:05] resiliency is are you adaptable?
Can you be flexible enough? Do you have
[9:10] diversification?
And I think at the end of the day and I
[9:13] noticed this in the report, it made me
think about it.
[9:16] What's the status and the condition of
the people that live in your
[9:19] communities? What's your educational
attainment rates?
[9:22] What's the standard of living? What are
your ALICE scores? Because your people
[9:27] are the people who are going to take you
through those inflection points. And so
[9:30] that's the way I kind of look at
resiliency and uh it's a great question.
[9:33] Thanks.
>> Great. Great. Thank you. Um so it's a
[9:36] good start. So, my next question is for
Maureen. Um, what are the main trends
[9:41] you're seeing in Southeast Michigan's
economy, and how does this influence
[9:45] your attraction efforts?
>> That's a great question because we
[9:49] almost discussed this at our weekly
staff meeting based on who we talked to
[9:53] and um, not just from the company
perspective, but from the community
[9:57] perspective. Because I always say I have
348 cities, villages, and townships
[10:02] under our region. Um, that means 348
different cities or different economic
[10:08] development strategies. So, uh, what are
the trends we're seeing? Um,
[10:14] we are seeing uh, that our talent is of
course our biggest asset.
[10:20] Because our talent has experience,
and it might not be the exact software
[10:25] program or the exact way a line runs,
but they have the ability to upskill to
[10:31] the latest innovative uh, skill set that
they need. It's a huge asset. You know,
[10:37] I try not to compare us to other states
that I might think are not as strong in
[10:42] certain areas that ours are. There are a
lot of companies who might choose the
[10:45] cheapest location down south because
it's the cheapest location, and what
[10:49] they find is the talent there is not
experienced.
[10:53] Right? So, that that type of talent, our
advanced manufacturing talent, is a
[10:59] trend that we're seeing is a
a huge asset for us. Um, and of course
[11:05] our engineering talent, with the second
largest uh, number of engineers in the
[11:09] country is a huge asset. So, companies
are really looking at
[11:14] uh,
the talent in much more detailed ways
[11:17] than we've ever seen uh, before. Because
once again, companies are making 10, 20,
[11:22] 30-year investments in your community.
They want to make sure that the pipeline
[11:25] of talent is strong. Glenn touched on
mobility. You know, that has been a huge
[11:31] um,
uh
[11:33] force that we've seen. Over half of our
prospects in our pipeline are related to
[11:37] mobility, not all automotive. We're
grateful for that the assets and the
[11:43] knowledge and you know, the capacity
capabilities that automotive has given
[11:49] us, but now we're seeing more in defense
and aerospace, which I know um makes a
[11:54] lot of people in this room happy as
they're also working on those
[11:57] initiatives. But what are the other
adjacent sectors that need the assets
[12:02] that we have? Uh so we're seeing much
more in those sectors than we have in
[12:08] the past. Uh
and you know, I guess the final thing
[12:12] would be how do we navigate this moment
in time uh where tariffs, I know Ingrid
[12:19] mentioned those, tariffs are a
disruptor.
[12:22] They're a disruptor like a global
pandemic and they're a disruptor like an
[12:25] economic downturn. And so helping
companies from around the world, because
[12:30] we do a lot of international uh work,
how do we help them navigate the
[12:34] uncertainty? You all know as local
officials, if your community can provide
[12:38] certainty to your residents and your
companies,
[12:42] you're going to be very successful.
Tariffs are just a diff- different level
[12:46] right now of uncertainty uh that is
something we have to spend more time on.
[12:51] And there's probably going to be a
question later about data centers or
[12:53] that's a whole separate uh session, so I
won't get into that right now.
[12:57] » Okay. So, let me ask Glenn then for the
next question. And what do you see as
[13:02] the impact of national trade policies
and how are you how is your organization
[13:06] addressing these impacts?
>> Wait, I I was told there was no tariffs
[13:09] and no data centers [laughter]
on this panel. Thank
[13:13] I had the busiest year of my career last
year.
[13:16] And and I have had a few busy years. But
on January 20th, uh the America First
[13:22] Trade Policy Act came out.
The industry
[13:26] and anybody who is reading the tea
leaves
[13:29] knew that that was going to happen. The
president, as he as he as he was
[13:34] campaigning, was very clear.
We knew as an auto industry that there
[13:38] would be trade changes. There would be
changes to
[13:42] the cafe standards.
There would be changes to the incentives
[13:46] for EVs. It was all as I was going to
say foretold, but it was.
[13:51] And so when we got it all, we didn't
There was only one thing we didn't know,
[13:55] the velocity and magnitude of that
change. It came fast and it came furious
[14:00] and it was
to say to use Marines, it was extremely
[14:04] disruptive.
And then in industry that has long lead
[14:07] times, is highly capital intensive, was
very complex, it can't react quickly,
[14:14] doesn't react quickly, and didn't react
well. Except, you know what? It's also a
[14:18] very resilient industry. They kept
building cars and making parts and
[14:21] figuring it out. But you probably saw
the numbers the other day, $36 billion
[14:27] of cost impact to the OEMs in North
America.
[14:31] That has to go somewhere or it comes off
the bottom line because you can't pass
[14:34] it on to the consumers.
The average price of a vehicle is
[14:37] $50,000 right now
and that's too high already. Loans are
[14:42] out there, credit's out there, so the
industry has had to absorb that, but it
[14:47] has been a huge impact. Now, the last
thing I'll say is we we did anticipate
[14:52] it, but no one should I don't think
there's anything to argue about with
[14:56] some of the the methodology about why it
was done. No one should argue about
[15:00] stronger borders,
particularly from the drug trafficking.
[15:04] No one should argue that we want more
manufacturing in our country. Why not
[15:08] raise the tariffs or the revenues of the
Treasury? It was again the methodology
[15:13] that we're struggling with and it's all
from our perspective, it comes down to
[15:17] do we have a new USMCA agreement and
does it make us stronger with Canada and
[15:22] Mexico because as a trade block we have
to be stronger.
[15:25] Sorry to riff so long on it, um, but
there's so many issues and and we're not
[15:29] out of it and we're not through it. And
this president believes in them and so
[15:33] we will be dealing with them.
The challenge for the industry though is
[15:38] politically times are shorter than
automotive planning lead times. Bill
[15:42] Ford said that it during the auto show.
So it's a really difficult time for us
[15:46] to navigate, but you know, our companies
are doing it.
[15:49] » Great. Thank you. So, um, I
Ingrid, manufacturing continues to be a
[15:54] huge part of our economy and, um,
obviously it's changing. How can
[15:58] partnerships with state and local
government help create opportunities for
[16:02] small and medium-sized businesses?
>> Yeah, so out the gate, um,
[16:08] we recently have been doing these
innovation expos across the state and
[16:11] we've, um, invited our both our local
and our state and also our federal
[16:16] legislators to be part of these because
it's really important that industry and
[16:20] policy makers are in the same room
together. Um, we often get feedback
[16:24] that, um, you know, these policy makers
are making laws and decisions and they
[16:28] don't understand how it's affecting our
businesses. Well, we say, "You've got to
[16:31] invite these folks to your plant. Have
them tour your business. They need to
[16:36] understand how decisions at all the
levels are impacting you." And vice
[16:40] versa, um, so what I would say for folks
in this room is to make sure that you
[16:45] are reaching out to your local business
leaders asking to come and do tours,
[16:50] creating,
um, advisory boards, roundtables when
[16:54] you need to get feedback. That's I think
the really important first step to have
[16:57] that constant line of communication. Um,
and then I would say is there are a lot
[17:02] of great, uh, resources out there at all
those various levels that I mentioned.
[17:06] So, um, for instance, like I said, we're
federal and and state we get some
[17:10] funding through those sources, but, uh,
there are a lot of great job centers
[17:14] that you can take advantage of grant
opportunities, um, the industry folks
[17:18] can. There are again, you know, state
programs, initiatives, associations that
[17:23] have a lot of knowledge to experts. So,
I think really first and foremost is
[17:26] bridging that communication between
those different levels is a great start.
[17:31] » Okay. Thank you. Um so,
why is cross-sector collaboration more
[17:35] important during periods of transition?
>> Yeah, there's a lot of knowledge
[17:40] transfer. So, I think that's the biggest
thing. And we don't need to reinvent the
[17:43] wheel. Um
I There's all these
[17:46] czars that get anointed and task force
that get created and new organizations
[17:51] that people want to stand up. And often
we get in the room and we've been part
[17:55] of some of these conversations when
we'll sit there. I've been on calls with
[17:59] you. We're like, "We already have
someone who does that." Or we already
[18:02] know a group that does that. And so,
what I would say is that there is
[18:05] already a lot of money and time and
people who are involved in a lot of
[18:09] these initiatives. It's just getting
everybody in the room, creating a a new
[18:13] strategy or tweaking the existing one if
necessary. And um figuring out what are
[18:17] those those deliverables that you've got
to
[18:20] that you've got to um impact.
>> All right. Thank you. Um so, um Glenn,
[18:25] Maureen mentioned the new new sectors
that are coming out right now. Um but
[18:31] how is the automotive sector
diversifying and building resilience?
[18:36] » Yeah, so I mentioned it in my entry
comments or intro I mean, the auto
[18:41] industry is the tech industry, is the
mobility industry, is the energy
[18:45] industry, is the air mobility industry.
And I think that you see diversification
[18:51] all the way through that. Um when you
have the energy companies at the table
[18:55] with the OEMs, it tells you that. When
you have the software companies at the
[18:59] table, it tells you that. So, there are
a lot of new technologies that are
[19:04] emerging, but they're all basically
already here. Just look at the vehicle
[19:08] itself.
The way it's designed, engineered,
[19:11] tested, the way it's built, it's using
industry 4.0 technologies, it's got
[19:16] energy tied to it. The There's
intelligent transportation systems, and
[19:21] you all know that in your communities.
It's how does How does the How does the
[19:25] infrastructure connect to the vehicle
that connects to the building that
[19:28] connects to the phone? So, it's all
happening here. And we need to do We
[19:33] need to double and triple down on that.
Uh the one phrase that I always has
[19:37] bothered me is we need to diversify away
from the auto industry. Uh-uh. We need
[19:42] to use it as a platform for
diversification. And Maureen mentioned
[19:45] it. It's about adjacent industries. I
met with Justine Johnson at the Office
[19:50] of Future Mobility uh yesterday. We
talked for about an hour and a half.
[19:54] Michigan should own air mobility
manufacturing and advanced
[19:59] manufacturing. There's no reason why we
shouldn't. No one else in the country
[20:03] has grabbed that, by the way. And most
of it's done in China right now. So, why
[20:07] shouldn't we have everything we need
here to develop the drones for the
[20:11] future? And that's really the
opportunity for us. It's not about
[20:16] walking away from, it's about utilizing
the base.
[20:19] » Maureen?
>> If I could just give an example of that.
[20:22] So, a couple years ago, we had um an
eVTOL prospect. Does anyone know what
[20:26] eVTOL is?
Electric vehicle takeoff and landing.
[20:31] Think about the Jetsons, but it's a real
thing, okay? So, they invited us to come
[20:36] and see their operation in California,
and we went, and we toured three
[20:39] different facilities that they had. Um
we came in second on this one for a
[20:44] reason that we couldn't control, but
anyway, we sure learned a lot. Here's
[20:48] what they told us at the end of this
tour that took about 6 hours and three
[20:51] facilities.
They said, "You're the first group we've
[20:54] ever in here who asked the most
intelligent questions, because you
[20:59] understood the technology, right? So, as
we were turning around, we're asking
[21:04] questions that no one else knew about,
but that's because how many automotive
[21:10] facilities and suppliers have we been in
and we understand how and I thought that
[21:14] really said a lot about our knowledge
base here, right? We own this knowledge
[21:20] and so why not use it for adjacent
industries.
[21:24] » Thank you. Um
So, going back to your comment about um
[21:30] talent, what are the biggest challenges
for our businesses in attracting and
[21:34] retaining a skilled workforce?
>> I'll I'll jump in on that. So, um we
[21:39] actually just queried our executive
leaders of, you know, clients, plant
[21:44] owners, managers and asked them, "What
are How are things going?" Um and when
[21:49] it comes to workforce, when it comes to
supply chain and advanced technology.
[21:53] When it came to workforce, um people are
still hiring even despite the
[21:57] uncertainty last year and I call it
whiplash that we experienced. A lot of
[22:01] leaders are calling it whiplash with the
changes. Um but even despite all that,
[22:05] people uh companies are still hiring.
The The uh one thing that kept coming
[22:10] back though is leaders are having hard
time with finding the right skill sets.
[22:14] So, they're having to train internally
uh or identify apprenticeships or
[22:18] programs. So, the end it costs money to
do that and it takes resources. So,
[22:21] that's um one interesting thing. Um the
good news is I'd say is that for many,
[22:26] many years finding talent was the number
one problem for our clients. It's still
[22:31] is a major issue, but it slid down to
number two and number one is actually
[22:35] increasing sales, but they're having a
hard time with the business development
[22:38] side. They need some more
more um help there. So, I I would say
[22:42] that, you know, there's there's a couple
things. Um we are not in the K-12 space,
[22:46] but, you know, it's continuing to focus
on improving education across the state,
[22:51] um developing the STEM, the I I used to
use the reading, writing, arithmetic,
[22:56] you know, the old version, but making
sure we're really doubling down on all
[22:59] of that and ensuring that those folks
are coming out ready, whether it's
[23:03] right into work or it's into an
associate's degree or a certification or
[23:07] college. We do to Maureen's point have a
lot of great engineers and a lot of
[23:11] talent, but as we all know, we're always
trying to keep a lot of that great
[23:14] talent here in Michigan. So, that's
where the the place and the companies
[23:18] come in tact. So, I would say those are
the big things with workforce though is
[23:21] we we're on the right path, but we need
to continue to double down.
[23:25] » I think you both have comments.
>> Yeah, just real briefly
[23:28] pathways and place.
And you've got placemaking as a core and
[23:32] you have pathways in your study, too.
And that's where we that's our biggest
[23:37] Achilles heal heal in this state.
I'll give you three stats.
[23:42] The recommendation for the ratio for
counselors to students in our country is
[23:47] 250 to 1.
The national average is 450 to 1.
[23:51] Michigan is 600 to 1. We're 49th in the
country.
[23:55] Now, that's one area is school
counselors, but that's a pretty major
[23:59] one and we're absolutely Even the best
school districts don't have enough.
[24:02] Unfortunately, it was highlighted during
the Oxford shootings, but it's something
[24:06] we've picked up and it's something that
we have to do better in is getting our
[24:10] people aligned with the right skills.
There are jobs. We just aren't aligning
[24:14] people right.
>> Okay. And Maureen?
[24:17] » Yeah, two points I want to make. First
of all, we deal a lot with site
[24:20] consultants. They're the
um you know, professionals who help
[24:23] companies make big corporate decisions.
They vindicated to us in a study that
[24:27] they released in the past year, what are
the drivers to attract talent to your
[24:31] community?
And I think you might be a little
[24:34] surprised, maybe not. It's local schools
for their kids and believe it or not, it
[24:40] is four-season outdoor recreation
opportunities.
[24:43] Well, you know, we've got that. So,
let's work on our schools a little more.
[24:49] Um the other thing I would say is
another study that we were recently uh
[24:52] made aware of, you know, what are the
issues that companies um
[24:58] or I'm sorry, that talent looks at
um and you know, we still have to work
[25:02] on things like transit and daycare,
right? But what was the number one issue
[25:08] that talent had when you talked to them?
And that was feeling a part
[25:14] of a corporate community. And Sarah, I
hope I'm portraying this correctly. But
[25:20] part of this it's not all on all of our
shoulders to make this perfect uh
[25:25] environment. Companies have to make
their employees feel that they're part
[25:29] of it, that they have that career path,
that they are engaged in the work that's
[25:33] done in the mission of the organization,
whether you have 10 employees or 10,000
[25:38] employees. And it was an interesting
finding to see that a lot of employees
[25:43] look more to the company to keep them
happy than if they can catch a bus.
[25:48] Or it ranked up above other important
issues. Don't get me wrong, they're
[25:51] important, but you know, corporations
have to take some responsibility for
[25:56] that as well.
>> Thank you. Um we have education um in
[26:00] the audience today, so I'm
they're hearing the messages, too. So,
[26:04] um
we we talked about data centers. So,
[26:08] from an economic resiliency perspective,
what do you believe are the benefits and
[26:13] challenges of attracting data centers?
Maureen, do you want to start?
[26:17] » You're all going to get a shot, but
okay.
[26:20] » Go ahead.
>> Okay, yeah, thanks. We're all jumping at
[26:23] this one. No, um we deal with every data
center that looks here. So, there's a
[26:27] couple of stats you should know. There
are multiple types of data centers.
[26:30] There are micro centers, which are very
small that might serve a particular
[26:34] company, and then there's of course the
massive um
[26:37] uh mega centers. We have 70 total in the
state of Michigan right now. There's
[26:42] over 5,000, I believe, in the United
States. Um so, you know, we're a little
[26:48] late to the game in Michigan. Sometimes
it's good to be late to the game cuz
[26:52] what you do is you learn from the
mistakes what other communities have
[26:55] found with issues like power, with
issues like water. So, even the data
[27:00] centers are learning to develop the
water loops, so you're not constantly
[27:04] drawing all the water out, you're
putting it on a loop
[27:08] and reusing it. Power, you know, I will
say what we learned early on on data
[27:13] centers is that they wanted to know how
much your state was
[27:18] um
power was generated by renewable sources
[27:22] because they knew this would be an
issue.
[27:25] So, we first of all, when we get a data
center client, and I would say we get a
[27:29] new one once every couple of weeks, all
ranges of size,
[27:32] you have to go to the community first.
If the community is not interested, we
[27:36] say thank you and we move on. Right?
We have to make sure it's something that
[27:42] communities want.
A few years ago we did a study on what
[27:47] are we missing in Michigan? And it was
really power rates were too high for
[27:51] data centers and the sales and use tax
was just a, you know, sort of you check
[27:56] that box if we don't fit it, we're out
of the running.
[28:00] Those have legislatively been addressed
in Michigan.
[28:04] So, we're in a better position, which is
there So, why are they all calling us?
[28:08] They're calling us because we're very
far behind other states in the amount of
[28:12] data centers here
and they're calling us because of
[28:15] legislative changes that occurred in
Lansing.
[28:18] So, you know, the one thing I would say
about data centers and we are neutral as
[28:22] an organization, we are neutral on data
centers. But I will say
[28:27] they are part of a community's
infrastructure for the future.
[28:32] And the example I use is remember when
you were getting the calls about people
[28:37] who did not want a cell tower in their
community cuz they were evil and ugly
[28:42] and terrible and who knew what they did.
Now, if you lose your connectivity
[28:48] for 5 minutes, you're freaking out
because why isn't there a cell tower so
[28:52] I can be connected?
A data center is a part of a community's
[28:57] infrastructure for future innovation and
technology.
[29:02] And we can decide, every community can
decide, do we want to be in that game or
[29:08] not? Like I said, we very much respect a
community's choice on that. You're never
[29:14] going to see my team at a public hearing
where a community has no interest in a
[29:18] data center. We just won't do it. There
are communities though who want to be
[29:24] able to, this is a little exaggeration
if you knew me, but who want to the tax
[29:28] revenue so they can literally pave their
streets in gold and build new schools
[29:32] because they generate huge amount of
local tax revenue.
[29:36] And that is a choice that all of you,
bless you, all of you in your
[29:40] communities get to make and we respect
that. But it is a trend that's only
[29:46] going to get stronger, especially for
Michigan cuz when you look at the list
[29:49] of where are there data centers in the
United States, we're at the bottom of
[29:53] that list right now.
>> Yeah. I'll be I'll be brief, but
[29:58] so I can speak to it from the industry
side.
[30:01] We have clients and people who love
being part of making things for for data
[30:08] centers right now. It's very lucrative.
So
[30:10] on the flip side, the industry is really
enjoying that side. What I will say is
[30:16] that we are very involved in AI
implementation with our clients. So we
[30:21] have already
rolled out both curriculum, onsite
[30:24] training and consulting where we're
advising on how to use AI in predictive
[30:29] maintenance, quality systems, and how
are you using it in your operations, the
[30:32] front of the house, the supply chain
matchmaking.
[30:36] We have some people on our some
engineers on our staff who are technical
[30:39] experts on this. And what I will tell
you today is AI is the worst it's ever
[30:43] going to be today. And AI, the demand
for it and the desire for it is not
[30:49] going anywhere. It's actually just
growing exponential and the amount of
[30:54] data centers and things that it needs
is going to just continue to increase.
[30:58] So I it's one of those things where it's
it's here.
[31:02] I mean we can't hide from it. So it's to
you know this organizations
[31:07] you know I guess benefit to lean in and
what is the strategy? How do we handle
[31:11] it? Because you know we we can't escape
it.
[31:15] » Okay. Glenn
>> I'll be even briefer. It's mindset. You
[31:19] can insert any word you want data
centers, electric vehicles, AI. If
[31:23] you're not leaning into it, you'll get
walloped by it and that's just a fact.
[31:28] And we have a bit of an issue in
Michigan in recent surveys the chamber
[31:31] just did one. Most of our citizens, the
people in your community do not
[31:35] understand
how far behind we are in certain things.
[31:39] And you see the BLM reports. I don't I'm
getting tired of reading the BLM reports
[31:44] cuz they're the same thing. I'm getting
I'm sure you guys are tired of seeing us
[31:48] be a bottom 10 state. But at the same
time there's so many good things going
[31:53] on in the state, but we have to lean
into the future.
[31:56] » Thank you. We're actually out of time,
but um before I was going to ask you one
[32:00] more question. So maybe I'll just ask
you to give me what you feel is um
[32:06] one asset that the region has that we
should leverage, but very very briefly,
[32:10] please.
>> I'll go first, but you did say I could
[32:13] do two and I will be brief. So one it's
it's our
[32:17] world-class innovation and know-how
around advanced manufacturing,
[32:22] engineering, and research. It's we know
how to do this. So lean into it. And the
[32:26] second is um
our location.
[32:30] I mean the places in your communities
are assets for people to live, work, and
[32:34] play. And geographically, if you look at
the Detroit region, the corridor between
[32:39] Toronto and and Chicago, we sit in the
middle and many people believe that it
[32:43] is a growth economy area for the future
and I I do.
[32:47] » Mhm. Thank you. Thank you.
>> Yeah, I would echo we have the advanced
[32:50] technology and the know-how. Um arsenal
democracy, right? We lit up the network
[32:56] when we needed to make defense because
we had that here. Um you know, and we
[33:00] can still do it for other things,
mobility, drones. Um it just takes the
[33:04] strategy and the initiative to get it
done.
[33:06] » Thank you.
>> I have three words. How's that? Just
[33:10] words.
>> right.
[33:12] » Workforce, weather, and water.
>> Okay. All right. Um thank you. Um before
[33:20] um before we ask questions, I ask the
audience to have show any questions. Um
[33:25] we all going to show a very short video
that DRP has created that further
[33:29] highlight some of our assets. It's very
short.
[33:40] » Detroit
where I was born and raised.
[33:49] Every day I see so much happening, so
much energy.
[33:54] This whole area is going to be born. I
see people coming every day from all
[33:58] over the world
making themselves a home.
[34:02] Start up looking to collaborate and
reach fast. Legacy coming looking for
[34:06] talent and small persistence.
They say that America doesn't make
[34:11] things anymore.
Well, in Detroit, we never stopped.
[34:16] What matters to me is my daughter's one
of them and a work ethic deep in our
[34:20] bones.
These streets are paved with
[34:24] possibilities.
This is where it starts.
[34:31] You got to get here.
[34:34] » Okay.
>> [applause]
[34:41] » Do we have a couple of minutes for
questions?
[34:46] Do we have any questions for the panel?
>> There's one.
[34:51] » Okay, Joe.
[34:54] » Thank you everybody. Joel from Arrivo
I'm curious about the
[34:59] item that is out of our control.
These are all
[35:03] corporate decisions. They are all
corporate decisions.
[35:07] Can't specify what it is, can you at
least say if it's something that's in
[35:09] our space? That would be super helpful.
>> No, it was something that's so annoying
[35:15] cuz we can't control it. Their main
investor told them where to go in the
[35:19] end.
They had a partner They had an OEM
[35:23] partner who said, "Here's where you have
to go."
[35:29] Yeah, to like, you know, buy Toyota and
tell No, I'm
[35:34] Yeah.
>> Okay.
[35:36] Any other questions?
[35:41] Okay, well, I'd like to thank our
panelists once again for sharing their
[35:45] expertise and [applause] insights. I
really appreciate the great
[35:48] conversation.