One D Initiative Unveiled

Source: Mackinac Policy Conference Coverage blog

By: WWJ and the Great Lakes IT Report
Published: May 30, 2007

One D isn't yet another redevelopment initiative for metro Detroit.

Instead, it's literally a state of mind, according to the opening panel at the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference Wednesday on Mackinac Island.

The high-powered group of six regional organizations, which has been working together nearly a year, pledged to make regional collaboration in all things their top priority going forward. "It is about a movement," said Shirley Stancato, president and CEO of New Detroit Inc.

And, said Mike Brennan, president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan: "We want a public, transparent, accessible scorecard" for One D's goals.

The five goals the group espoused Wednesday, and their benchmarks, were:

• Economic prosperity, a region defined by an emphasis on attracting and retaining talent and an entrepreneurial culture. Goals include entrepreneurship rankings, business attraction, job growth and per capita income growth in the top quarter of the United States' 50 largest metro areas, and a net in-migration of advanged degree holders.
• Educational preparedness, with educational programs that align with current and future work force needs. Goals include all children reading at grade level, regional high school graduation rates in the top half of large metro areas, and moving into the top half of metro areas of people having advanced degrees.
• Quality of life, abundant recreation, arts, culture and health care. Goals include boosting the percentage of the population with incomes 200 percent above the poverty level by 10 percetn by 2020, increased greenways and shared public spaces, sustainable arts and social service organizations, and a 25 percent improvement in the region's self-image.
• Race relations, becoming a region of racial diversity, inclusion and equal opportunity. Goals include a "significant" reduction in racial disparities in key measures of prosperity and quality of life, implementation of "structured opportunities" to break down sterotypes, and increasing positive media coverage of the region's diversity.
• Regional transit, with coordinated, safe and cost-effective transit systems. Goals include a regional transit authority, and implementation of a totally integrated regional transit system, with particular attention to tourism destination areas.

Regional leaders pledged their support for the initiatives.

"The most important thing about One D is that it is not about coming up with another plan," said Edsel Ford II, a One D champion and Ford Motor Co. board member. "Instead, it is about taking the best plans that already exist and giving them the opportunity to work, regionally."

And all One D champions said they'd promote an ethic of putting the regional interest ahead of the interests of their organizations or local communities.

"We are aligned in a common vision," said Maud Lyon, founding director of the Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan. "We want to eliminate duplication of effort."