world-class destinations and developing 
innovation communities with a focus on 
mobility all fit the bill for the job. 
Culler noted that Sirefman has done 
large-scale developments, worked in 
government and been deep in the weeds 
of public-private partnerships, which 
Sidewalk Labs pursued in a Toronto-
based project. 
“We’ve seen his deep commitment to 
community that he has, which is really 
important for us, and he saw the power 
of the project, which is a testament to 
his vision,” Culler noted. “He’s building 
a world-class team and has already 
hired some amazing folks. He’s bringing 
in fantastic expertise to really dig into 
some of these, frankly, difficult issues. 
He’s looked at what we’ve done, had 
strong alignment with the strategy; he’s 
improved upon the strategy and taken it 
to the next level.”
For Sirefman, the value proposition to 
recruit talent and new tenants is clear: It’s 

being part of a community of economic 
activity of brainpower and talent. 
It’s about being among others doing 
related work, which has a high value, as 
entrepreneurs don’t want to work in a 
silo.
There’s already been achievement in 
the physical infrastructure side spanning 
technologies around inductive charging 
in the pavement (the first wireless 
EV-charging road system in the nation is 
to be created at Michigan Central Station 
by Israeli startup Electreon, which was 
announced earlier this year) that will 
allow companies to both test and deploy 
their solutions. But it also includes digital 
infrastructure, which relates to the ability 
for companies to capture data in a very 
transparent way. 
Sirefman also remarked upon the 
policy infrastructure side, which allows 
tenants to more easily work with the city 
of Detroit through the Transportation 
Innovation Zone to bring government to 

the table. 
Finally, the social infrastructure 
element allows stakeholders in the 
mobility ecosystem to more easily engage 
with the community during the working 
process. “Interestingly, from a global 
perspective, we’re seeing evidence that 
companies really get that this will be 
a portal for their entry into the North 
American market, and that there are 
assets and advantages of Southeast 
Michigan and Detroit. Michigan Central 
is sort of the natural place for them to 
land,” Sirefman said.

A ’VIBRANT’ ENGINE
A decade from now, Sirefman sees the 
possibility of Michigan Central as an 
extraordinary, alive and vibrant place — 
an engine of both innovative work, but 
also of the energy of Detroit. He wants 
it to truly be viewed as an asset and a 
resource by all Detroiters. 
“We’re trying to create an open 
platform, where a decade from now, 
Michigan Central has legitimately moved 
the needle on the ability to attract and 
retain or train a talent base that is on par 
with the West Coast, East Coast, Texas, 
wherever it may be,” Sirefman said.
That extraordinary impact has happened 
for Detroit in the last century. He sees 
remarkable innovation happening within 
the ecosystem that can accelerate the 
adoption of electrification, and whatever 
new solutions are needed that drive the 
industry toward a more sustainable and 
equitable approach to mobility. 
“Personally, I do think that those are 
the kinds of outcomes that would truly 
define success,” he said.

continued from page 33

34 | NOVEMBER 10 • 2022 

BUSINESS
COVER STORY

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FORD

Josh Sirefman 
spoke at the World 
Economic Forum’s 
Urban Transformation 
Summit earlier in the 
year.

