The Detroit Blog
One year. One city. Endless opportunities.
Most Popular Posts on The Detroit Blog
  1. Unfiltered: How Do You Fix…
  2. Burnt Out
  3. The People

Saving Hundreds of Metro Detroit Jobs

Posted by Karen Dybis
November 25, 2009 at 12:16 pm
Submit a Comment

Check out this article from Crain's Detroit and column by Detroit News writer Laura Berman about the recent sale of the Matt Prentice restaurant group.

These restaurants are legendary in Metro Detroit; I have eaten many a business lunch at Prentice's nine eateries. I also have interviewed him on many occasions and found him a genuine person and truly concerned about the region's fortunes.

Prentice sold his business this month because he admits he got over his head. The economy took over -- no one was throwing big parties or needed his catering services as much as they had in the past. Thankfully, a local CPA and attorney (Stanley Dickson Jr.) stepped up to grab the company and keep it going, maintaining some 500 or so jobs in Metro Detroit.

Read More…

          

Related Topics: business, , ,

Burnt Out

Posted by Darrell Dawsey
November 24, 2009 at 6:27 pm
1 Comment

Saw a note about a town hall last weekend to rally support to close the Detroit incinerator -- and I'm glad to see the fight is still on.

Read More…

          

Related Topics: Detroit, Environment, The economy, Urban Affairs, Utilities, politics, , , , ,

Unfiltered: How Do You Fix Detroit?

Posted by Karen Dybis
November 24, 2009 at 11:48 am
5 Comments

Years ago, I had the good fortune to meet a man named James V. McTevia. Of all the financial advisors I've ever interviewed, McTevia is one of the few I would trust – with money or anything else.

So I was thrilled when McTevia agreed to add his thoughts to the Assignment Detroit blog. Some background: McTevia is the founder of McTevia & Associates, a Bingham Farms-based crisis management consulting firm. Its job is to help companies confront their problems, find solutions and restructure them for the future.

McTevia's 40-year career began in commercial finance, then moved into banking and industrial finance. He is author “Financial Reality” and “Bankrupt: A society living in the future.”

I asked McTevia to answer one question: What will it take to fix Detroit?

*

Read More…

          

Related Topics: Detroit, Essay, The economy, business, , , ,

Most Popular »

  1. The Six Greatest Fantasy Novels of All Time
  2. The Morning After: What's Good for the Gosselins
  3. USAT/Gallup: Obama at 50
  4. Adam Lambert Too—Ahem—"Controversial" for GMA
  5. Hold Outs Give In
  6. Patrick Kennedy, the bishop and RI politics
  7. Sestak's Palin Bankshot
  8. Avatar Exclusive: First Look at 'Interactive Trailer'
  9. Guess Who Came to Dinner?
  10. Losing Angelina
  1. Sex, Please, We're British: London's 2009 Erotica Expo
  2. Helicopter Parents: The Backlash Against Overparenting
  3. World Toilet Day Raises Sanitation Awareness
  4. Gay Rights: How a California Judge Is Challenging Obama
  5. Canadian Woman Loses Insurance over Facebook Photo
  6. Global Warming: Once Stable East Antarctica Losing Ice
  7. Obama's First Year Policies Need Time to Settle In
  8. Zhu Zhu Mania: Why Hamster Toys Are Hit Christmas Gifts
  9. The Fall of Greg Craig, Obama's Top Lawyer
  10. Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

Detroit Documentary Takes Award

Posted by Karen Dybis
November 23, 2009 at 7:20 pm
1 Comment

Sorry this took me so long to post...Congratulations go out to Mascha and Manfred Poppenk, the two Dutch documentary filmmakers who created "Grown in Detroit." Their film about the Catherine Ferguson Academy in Detroit, which educates pregnant teens and young parents, won the Documentary Feature Jury Award at the Austin Film Festival in October.

The film is about the school and its organic farming program. It is a wonder to watch and deserves the accolades (in my fine film-loving opinion...but what do I know; I thought "New Moon" was outstanding too.) Judge for yourself -- check out the film's web site here.

The Austin Film Festival (AFF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to furthering the art, craft and
business of writers and filmmakers and recognizing their contributions to film, television and new
media.

Mascha and Manfred Poppenk

          

Related Topics: Art and artists, Detroit, Film industry, , , ,

The People

Posted by Steven Gray
November 23, 2009 at 1:00 pm
Submit a Comment

Metropolitan Detroit is one of America's most racially and ethnically diverse regions, but also one of its most balkanized. Many Detroit residents view the act of shopping across 8 Mile Road, the boundary between the city's largely (but, decreasingly) white suburbs, as treasonous. Suburbanites, meanwhile, often boast about not having been to Detroit in decades.

Read More…

          

Related Topics: Art and artists, Detroit, Photo Gallery, society, , ,

Forget Florida; She's Staying in Detroit

Posted by Karen Dybis
November 23, 2009 at 11:58 am
Submit a Comment

Everyone needs a purpose.

For Dr. Linda Johnson, it is to help Detroit be a great place to live.

Johnson is the perfect example of how longtime Michigan residents are devoting what some call “the second half of their lives” to public service. In fact, the Detroit resident was recognized last month as a Purpose Prize Fellow, an honor for social entrepreneurs ages 60 and up.

Johnson and her husband could be enjoying a quiet retirement. Instead, they are knee-deep in Detroit: the city, its people and its problems.

“I tried to retire three times,” said Johnson, a former elementary school principal. “I just can't seem to do it.”

Thank goodness. Johnson is the kind of high-energy, experienced, thoughtful person this city and region needs if it is going achieve its long-awaited renaissance.

Read More…

          

Related Topics: DetroitWorking, , , , , ,

Detroit: American catastrophe?

Posted by Karen Dybis
November 21, 2009 at 11:40 am
14 Comments

Another stolen post from the DetroitYes! forum...

Check out this op-ed column about Detroit from Bob Herbert of the New York Times. Its title says it all: An American Catastrophe.

Best quote:

Detroit and its environs are suffering the agonies of the economic damned because of policies, crafted at the highest national and corporate levels, that resulted in the implosion of crucially important components of America's manufacturing base. Those decisions have had a profound effect on the fortunes not just of Detroit, or even Michigan, but the entire U.S. economy.

“We've been living with the illusion that manufacturing — making things — is so 20th century,” said Harley Shaiken, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, who specializes in labor issues, “and that we could succeed by concentrating, for example, on complex financial instruments while abandoning the industrial base that sustained so many American families.”

Read the whole thing here.

          

Related Topics: Detroit, The economy, auto industry, business, , , ,

Motown's Greatest Hit...From the Detroit Era

Posted by Darrell Dawsey
November 20, 2009 at 11:07 pm
9 Comments

The weekend's here, and I'm tired of reading -- and writing -- about corruption, high unemployment, political strife, the deaths of our babies and just about every other malady that's been kicking us in the butt lately. (Plus, even the Wife has been on my case about grousing about so many problems; this from a woman who reports about the public schools.)

So I figured I'd take a break from anything contentious. Set out to find a nice, positive story about the city. Flipped on the TV. Scanned the newspapers. Surfed the 'Net. Eventually, I ran across news of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of Motown Records. Just what I wanted, I figured. Something iconic about Detroit that most of us can agree we dig.

But not so fast...

I happened to be talking to a friend of mine at the time I was thinking of the idea. I mentioned it to him -- and this led to a conversation about the history of the label...and that led to conversation about the Motown songs we grew up listening to our parents listen to...

...and that led to an argument...

Read More…

          

Holy Day: The Life of a Michigan Fan

Posted by Kristy Erdodi
November 20, 2009 at 10:41 pm
13 Comments

For many people here, today will be sacred: the match between two of college football's biggest rivals, the University of Michigan, and Ohio State University. There will be moments of anger and bliss. I'll watch it all in Ann Arbor, Mich., at what those of us who love the Wolverines call the Big House.

My distaste for Ohio State began during my sophomore year at Michigan. I'd just transferred from Oakland University, in the Detroit suburbs. Oakland didn't have a football team – which made life at the school boring. I got sick of hearing people there say, “But we have a great basketball team.” I even wrote a midterm paper about why Oakland needed football. The central argument: Football is one of the best ways to build school pride. Shortly thereafter, I packed my futon and mini-fridge and left for Ann Arbor.

As a transfer student who ended up in one of the farthest dorms from campus and was uninterested in joining a sorority, I found it difficult to make good friends during my first year at the U. of M.

Read More…

          

Related Topics: Essay, Michigan, society, sports, , , , ,

Ring-a them bells

Posted by Karen Dybis
November 20, 2009 at 12:34 pm
1 Comment

It's that time again. The bell ringers are here.

The Salvation Army of Metro Detroit hopes to raise $7.8 million with its annual Red Kettle Campaign. The campaign goal is slightly lower than previous years in recognition of the area's economic distress, said Major John Turner, general secretary for The Salvation Army of Metro Detroit.

This year, there are several innovative ways to donate. You can go online at The Salvation Army's web site. You can set up an online kettle and then email donation requests to everyone you know. And for the first time you can attach your online kettle to your Facebook page – create a contest among your pals and use those status updates wisely!

The Facebook application will allow your goal, progress and Online Red Kettle link to appear on your Facebook profile. Once someone makes a donation via Facebook, a notification will show in your newsfeed. As a Facebook addict, I'm all in. My goal is to raise $150 to help fund meals on the Bed and Bread trucks.

“With an increased need of 60 percent (in Salvation Army services), we wanted to pull out all the stops to make it as easy as possible for people of all ages to donate to the Red Kettle Campaign,” Turner said.

The coolest 2009 innovation may be the credit-card pilot program for The Salvation Army of Washtenaw County. Yup, the Kettle is going high tech.

Read More…

          

Related Topics: NonprofitsThe economy, , , ,