Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan is scheduled to announce Monday a new, multiyear initiative to re-engage ex-Detroiters in the city as it is slated to emerge from bankruptcy, Mary Kramer writes in Crain's Detroit Business.
Crain's Detroit Business is a convener of the initiative we are calling "The Detroit Homecoming." The inaugural homecoming will be in iconic Detroit venues Sept. 17-19 with an invitation-only audience primarily of "expats" — people who were born in metro Detroit, grew up here, went to school here or worked here — and still think of Detroit as "home."
More than 70 successful former Detroiters have accepted the invitation to attend The Detroit Homecoming. Organizers are hoping the final registration tops 150.
Monday's briefing is the official public announcement for the initiative, which began last fall when Jim Hayes, a retired publisher of Fortune magazine, brought the idea to Crain's, according to Kramer.
Hayes had worked in Detroit from 1967 to 1977 for Sports Illustrated before continuing his publishing career in New York City.
"I'm an expat," said Hayes, who moved back to the Detroit area last year.
"Ever since I've been back, I've been endlessly impressed by the opportunities for investment and engagement. We're going to dazzle these folks who haven't been here in a while. They'll be stunned to see how dramatically Detroit is changing for the better."
Hayes brought the idea of the initiative to Crain's after meeting with nonprofit and business leaders about ways he could help support Detroit's revival.
A group of nearly 50 volunteers from area universities, nonprofits, public agencies and companies has created an agenda designed to introduce the ex-Detroiters to people making a difference on the ground in the city. Duggan, for example, or Gov. Rick Snyder, as well as social entrepreneurs, nonprofit grassroots leaders as well as major business investors.
Invited guests are successful people, from billionaires Stephen Ross and Eli Broad to tech entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, private equity investors, artists, journalists and entertainers.