Daniel Howes reports in the Detroit News that a Wall Street’s powerbroker is scheduled to be in Detroit tonight for a secret dinner with Mayor Mike Duggan in advance of a major announcement committing $100 million to bring jobs and businesses to the bankrupt city.
Howes writes:
JPMorgan Chase Chairman Jamie Dimon is expected to join the mayor, the Thompson Foundation’s Bob Thompson, a representative of the governor’s office and perhaps billionaire investor Warren Buffett for a private dinner in the M@dison Building on Grand Circus Park, three sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to The Detroit News.
The plan, expected to be detailed Wednesday on NBC’s “Today Show,” would commit the capital to back firms that would pledge to invest in the city and provide tax-paying jobs in a Detroit preparing to exit its historic Chapter 9 bankruptcy later this year.
Howes says the significance of the announcement goes beyond the actual cash. While some Wall Street institutions are fighting Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr, the JP Morgan effort suggests Wall Street is starting to notice that Detroit offers opportunity, as Dan Gilbert has noticed.
Its business community is active, and the hometown auto industry is leaner and more profitable. Real estate is comparatively cheap. Labor is available and trainable. The main airport in western Wayne County is world class. Political leadership, chiefly the administrations of Duggan and Snyder, are the most business-friendly of their respective offices in decades.
Without offering details or mentioning names, Duggan hinted at the announcement while speaking at a community meeting Monday night in southwest Detroit, suggesting residents pay attention to the big news coming Wednesday.
