Chalk up another win for our comeback city.
Detroit will host a national business forum on how employers can upgrade recruiting, training and productivity, its sponsor announces Wednesday.
"Reinventing America: The Workforce Summit,” sponsored by Forbes magazine's conference division, will feature presentations by Rick Snyder, Dan Gilbert, Mary Barra and the presidents of Michigan State and Wayne State. Local executives delivering remarks also include Felicia Fields, a Ford group vice president, and Cindy Pasky, founder and head of Strategic Staffing Solutions. .
The publishing firm says nice things about Detroit in announcing its selection for the May 4-5 event at the Westin Book Cadillac:
We picked Detroit . . . mostly because it occupies a unique place in the world's business history and its future. . . .
Today it is home to a unique ecosystem of partnerships between technology entrepreneurs like Quicken Loans' Dan Gilbert, traditional big companies like Ford and GM, and the local government — to rebuild the city and attract first-rate talent from all across the U.S. and the world. Detroit has become a model for how cities that are broken can begin the hard work of reinventing themselves. Forbes is optimistic that they can do it and we want to be a part of that effort.
Gilbert, founder and chairman of Quicken, also is quoted in the promotion. Here's the last of his four sentences:
"Keeping the best and brightest in our city and attracting top talent from around the globe is the single biggest factor in continuing and accelerating the rebirth of the Motor City.”
The event is part of a "Reinventing America" series under way since last year with discussions of other topics in Chicago, Indianapolis and Salinas, Calif.
Detroit's installment, a media release says, "will bring together industry leaders, investors, entrepreneurs, CEOs and policy makers for a thought-provoking discussion about how to attract and retain top talent." Among agenda topics are:
- How cities shape the workforce.
- Leadership lessons from technology, professional sports and the military.
- Bringing diversity to the workplace.
- Future of organized labor.
- Specialized vocational education with intensive training.
- Apprenticeship models gaining popularity.
In addition to Forbes, the lead sponsors are the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Quicken. The Detroit Medical Center and Strategic Staffing Solutions also will help cover the costs.
Attendees pay $295 for the "invitation-only" conference. An application is here.
-- Alan Stamm
