Techonomy Conference 2013 (Update)

TECHONOMY DETROIT

Gov tells crowd the city is on its way back already

Snyder says he pitches Detroit as a good investment; Gilbert presses for a focus on razing blighted buildings

By John Gallagher and JC Reindl Detroit Free Press Business Writers

   In a day filled with ideas about how technology can boost Detroit’s fortunes, Gov. Rick Snyder and others promoted the city as the nation’s next tech hot spot Tuesday at the annual Techonomy conference.

   Back from his third economic development trip to China, Snyder told the annual Techonomy conference in Detroit how he pitched the Chinese on the benefits of investing in the state and city.

   One of his selling point: Detroit’s assets are a bargain now, but are poised to rise.

   “There’s a huge investment opportunity in terms of large-scale investment,” Snyder told moderator David Kirkpatrick and an audience of several hundred at Wayne State University. Techonomy, held in Detroit for the second straight year, focuses on the role of new technology in job creation and urban revitalization.

   “That was part of my pitch to them regarding Detroit. Detroit is the value place in the United States, in Michigan, and potentially the world in terms of a great value opportunity,” Snyder said. “Come in and invest now, because there’s going to be a great upside.”

   Snyder returned Friday from his 10-day mission to China and Japan. It was the governor’s third trip to Asia since taking office. He did not offer any specifics on potential deals with the Chinese, or where their areas of interest in Detroit and the state could be.

   Snyder said the Chinese asked many questions about Detroit’s bankruptcy. He said he explained that the city’s bankruptcy filing this summer was not about a new problem, but rather a chance to fix 60 years of accumulated problems.

   “Often people will say, ‘Well, after the bankruptcy is the city going to come back?’ ” the governor told an audience of more than 500. “That’s back wards. The comeback has already been going on outside of municipal government, outside of the public sector. It’s already been going on in the private sector — you have (Quicken Loans founder and chairman) Dan Gilbert here.”

   Chinese companies have already invested about $1 billion in Michigan, he said. “That number has grown a lot, and is on a pace to grow quite a bit more.”

   Also during Techonomy, Gilbert told the audience that removing an estimated 70,000 blighted buildings from Detroit’s landscape ought to be the community’s No. 1 job.

   “Once we can get that done, you’re going to have open pieces of land and you’re going to have, more importantly, open optimism,” Gilbert said.

   “I was at the White House a couple weeks ago. We were talking to several secretaries in the cabinet about this very issue,” he continued. “There is money available to do this. It’s just a matter of getting the infrastructure in place and getting ourselves in a position to make it happen.”

   In a typical Gilbert idea-spinning suggestion, he said the city could cre ate a reverse tote board as a countdown clock to show how many vacant structures remained to be razed.

   Asked how Detroit could sell itself to investors, Gilbert responded, “Detroit sells itself.” He pointed out that when Quicken hired more than 1,000 interns for summer positions this year, the company had 19,000 applications for those jobs.

   “Downtown is the heartbeat, and downtown is where there’s a lot of jobs,” he said.

   Joining Gilbert in the discussion was Bruce Katz of the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., and author of the new book “Metropolitan Revolution.” Katz suggested that urban agriculture is one productive use for vacant land in Detroit, but only as part of a broader revitalization strategy.

   The Techonomy conference featured multiple panel discussions focusing on various aspects on the technological revolution and how it might help Detroit. For more on the conference, go to Techonomy.com  .

   Contact John Gallagher: 313-222-5173

Gov. Rick Snyder speaks at Techonomy Detroit on Tuesday at Wayne State University. PHOTOS BY KATHLEEN GALLIGAN/DETROIT FREE PRESS

John Covington, left, chancellor of the Education Achievement Authority of Michigan, appears with Hector Ruiz, chairman of Advanced Nanotechnology Solutions.

Quicken Loans founder and chairman Dan Gilbert, right, shows moderator Edward Luce of the Financial Times his Opportunity Detroit T-shirt.