spotlight Rebootin New Economy Initiative seeks to accelerate business and innovation in southeast Michigan. The J Sandi Svoboda Special to the Jewish News A few years ago, leaders from 10 philanthropic foundations (Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, Max & Marjorie Fisher Foundation, Ford Foundation, Hudson-Webber Foundation, W K. Kellogg Foundation, John S. & James L. Knight Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, the McGregor Fund, Charles & Stewart Mott Foundation and the Skillman Foundation) looked at southeast Michigan and said, "We've got to do some- thing about the economy:' Pooling some of their resources, the foundations created a $100 million fund in 2008 — the New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan (NEI) to make grants over eight years to organizations that serve entrepreneurs in southeast Michigan. The idea was first to learn what was needed and then fund some of the ini- tiatives to help revitalize the regional economy through supporting business and creating a culture change related to how jobs, economic growth and an economic vision are viewed. Moving from the automotive-centric to a more diversified economy, supporting smaller companies and individual entre- preneurs instead of focusing on large corporations, and preparing an educated workforce were all part of NEI's early goals. Today NEI is funding dozens of programs, projects and organizations that seek to help the region's entrepreneurs start, expand and attract investment across a range of industries. During 2012, the Jewish News, the Arab American News, the Latino Press, Michigan Korean Weekly and the Michigan Chronicle, which make up New 34 December 20 • 2012 1hP Michigan Media (NMM), have been run- ning articles showcasing entrepreneurial talent and success from minority com- munities. That work has been funded, in part, by the New Economy Initiative. "These newspaper articles not only highlight individuals' successes, but also help tell the story of the communities, creating greater aware- ness of the entrepre- neurial successes that can redefine the positive potential of this region:' said Hayg Oshagan, NMM's executive direc- tor. "We need to remake the narrative of Detroit to one of opportunity and growth, realizing that a good deal of it comes from minority David Egner communities:' Oshagan recently met with NEI's Executive Director David Egner to talk about NEI's work across the region. Here is an edited version of their conversation. NMM: How has NEI's work evolved since those initial start-up meetings? Egner: In the early portion of NEI's life, there was a lot of learning. Eighteen months into the program, we had only made seven grants. We were on a per- petual learning curve. What it ended up meaning 24 months after we started was that it was really about reclaiming the region as a globally recognized innova- tion hub that provided opportunities for anyone who wanted to work and own a business to be able to start a business — any kind of business; we're not sector- specific. We think it's about opportuni- ties. We've always been focused on creat- ing an infrastructure that would serve all people. NMM: What was NEI's first priority? Egner: Studying the assets of the region that provide comparative advantage. Detroit is a region that tends to define itself by its deficits, not its assets. Part of that is the culture of the automotive industry and the dependency on large employers. But the reality is 70 years ago, 100 years ago, this was the equivalent of Silicon Valley. It was one of — if not the —most innovative areas on the planet. All of the assets that existed then still exist. NMM: What are some of the biggest assets? Egner: I'll list them. The most-crossed border in North America. The most sophisticated logistics system is here because the autos built it. A huge population of the creative class, from auto engineers to fash- ion designers, that has not been fully taken advantage of. Three Tier I research uni- versities within 80 miles of each other that all have a presence in the city of Detroit as well as their own campuses. Combined they have over $2 billion a year in public research. Idea generators like health care systems: Beaumont, Henry Ford Health System and the Detroit Medical Center. Also, places like Next Energy, where they are playing in a new industry. A very large and growing ethnic population that can be galvanized around the issues of the region and around issues of entrepreneurship. I can keep on going. NMM: One NEI priority has been to invest in research in the region. What is the sec- ond? Egner: Another area we've looked at is the regional workforce: How to do our best to improve workforce training and create an employable workforce. We strategically looked at the community colleges and the workforce boards and helped them come together to form a Workforce Intelligence Network. WIN is a real-time data pro- gram focused on where jobs exist instead of using U.S. Department of Labor data, which is 18 months to two years old. For example, the Department of Labor says we have way too many engineers; we're in a down cycle. WIN says we have one qualified engineer for every five open- ings. The Department of Labor data says we really don't need any more IT profes- sionals, but the WIN data would show we've got a 6,000-8,000 person gap in IT professionals. The next trick for WIN is that we're working with the community colleges and workforce boards to develop curriculum and make connections there. NMM: The third area is what you call the "entrepreneurial ecosystem:' Can you tell us about NEI's investment in this category? Egner: This is where we found the real sweet spot, working on the entrepreneurial ecosystem with programs, training and initiatives that promote entrepreneurship. The first grant was made in spring 2009. We've made about $36 million in grants in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and we're about to make about $30 million more. NMM: Why do you call it an "ecosystem:' traditionally a more scientific term? Egner: Because it's messy. It's not a neat system. You can't look at an entrepreneur and say you need two tablespoons of this ingredient and three cups of that. It chang- es. A biological ecosystem is messy, and it's very organic with lots of collisions and lots of interesting relationships, dependencies. It's a far better metaphor than anything else I can come up with.