When it comes to fashion, not many people place Detroit among the cities where the design industry thrives. Detroiters may know it here, but one Detroit-based fashion brand, Deviate Fashion, started with the goal to put Detroit on the map as a fashion city around the world.
Taking a look around Michigan’s major cities, design is everywhere, though much of the design people see in their daily lives largely goes unnoticed. Whether it’s the clothing people wear, the designs and patterns that adorn walls, the architecture in downtown Detroit and other cities, or the websites they visit, chances are a designer is behind it. So, what really makes up the design industry and what efforts are underway in Michigan to develop and expand it?
In the national and global race for strong professional talent, how can Michigan get a leg up on the competition? How does the Great Lakes state become a top 10 state where families and young professionals want to live, work, grow and play? Some of Michigan’s top business leaders gathered together to answer these questions about making Michigan more competitive and how exactly the state should do it at the Detroit Regional Chambers 2022 Mackinac Policy Conference.
From Detroit’s Campus Martius and Riverwalk districts to vibrant developing downtown corridors in Detroit’s suburbs, like Clawson, urban planners, developers and city officials in Southeast Michigan have begun the placemaking process in an attempt to attract and retain workforce talent and provide residents with a greater quality of life, but have the state’s efforts paid off?
More than a century ago, Detroit’s entrepreneurial spirit put the Michigan auto industry on the map as the Motor City — the car capital of the world, but how will the state that has led the automotive industry for several decades stay competitive in the everchanging automotive environment of the 21st century?
For the past eight years, The LEE Group‘s President and CEO Mark S. Lee has put a focus on helping small businesses through the challenges of starting and sustaining a new venture. The past few years, however, COVID-19 has caused major disruptions to our economy and to the survival of small businesses. The LEE Group’s Small Business Workshop returns for its eighth year with a focus on business recovery and sustainability. ere severely impacted and are not showing the profitability that they had.
From remote learning to mask mandates, teacher shortages and more, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to disrupt education for Michigan’s students and educators. Michigan’s teacher shortage specifically has been a widely debated topic across the state, but can it be characterized as a crisis yet? While some headlines and reports might say yes, other education experts don’t think our state’s education system is there yet.
They were some of America’s frontline workers, but then they called it quits. The nation’s labor shortage has impacted several industries, with workers leaving because of low wages, poor conditions or in pursuit of new opportunities, but one of the hardest-hit industries continues to be retail, especially grocery stores that have seen grocery store workers leave in droves.
New York Times best-selling author Alec Ross joined the Detroit Economic Club on Feb. 16 for a lively discussion centered around his latest book, “The RAGING 2020s: Companies, Countries and People — and the Fight for Our Future,” with DEC President and CEO Steve Grigorian. Alec Ross currently works as a distinguished visiting professor at l’Universitá di Bologna Business School.
While 35% of Michigan’s children five years and under qualify for childcare subsidies, only 5% of families are tapping into the state’s financial resources. At the same time, nearly 44% of Michigan families live in childcare deserts — geographic hot spots where there’s a lack of licensed childcare providers.
