Duggan on Detroit clean-up efforts: City looks 'unrecognizable' ahead of NFL Draft

Detroit — Mayor Mike Duggan on Thursday reiterated his vow for a "clean"-looking city by the time Detroit hits the national stage next year for the NFL Draft in Campus Martius.

The mayor made remarks at Detroit Homecoming, hosted by Crain's Detroit Business, at the Hilberry Theatre on Wayne State University's campus Thursday.

Duggan said he got fed up seeing trash and uncut grass along the Interstate 94 freeway which suggests to incoming visitors that "Detroit doesn't care." He said the city took over the cleaning services from the Michigan Department of Transportation, which only cleaned and cut twice a year.

"You will not see any graffiti, you will not see an abandoned house along the freeway, a rusted gate, or a tent city," Duggan said. "The city already looks unrecognizable to those of us that haven't been here in the last decade. We will surprise the 400,000-500,000 people that will come to Detroit for the NFL Draft next year and I guarantee you."

Kimberly Andrews Espy, the new president of the Midtown university, kicked off a packed agenda Thursday morning. In her first introduction to the city, she said what solidified her decision was Detroit's renowned creativity.

"The arts are not separate from economics but rather symbiotic," Espy said. "Detroit makes automobiles, but Detroit also makes culture, and not just for our city, but for the world."

Duggan and J.P. Morgan Chase Vice Chair Peter Scher had a fireside chat with WDET-FM host Stephen Henderson. The leaders spoke about Duggan's tenth year in office and the banking firm's $200 million philanthropic pledge to help the city's economy rebound after its historic bankruptcy in 2013.

Its Entrepreneurs of Color Fund made 50 loans in its first two months with two defaults, Scher said: "That's pretty good."

Duggan said the fund, now in 15 cities across the country, not only helped entrepreneurs but also created systemic change.

"(CEO) Jamie Dimon saw the program's success and questioned, 'How did we miss all the Black and Brown entrepreneurs who are succeeding, but not in our traditional lending practices?' There's an inherent bias in here that he went back to their lending market, looked at their practices everywhere as a result of this," Duggan said.

The three-day conference aimed at wooing an elite group of successful former Detroiters to invest in their hometown will wrap up Friday with visions of innovation, the future of electronic vehicles and predictions for the Detroit Lions' hopeful season.

Duggan touted the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy for creating a walkable international border; the upcoming Ralph C. Wilson Park; the 26-mile Joe Louis Greenway' and several initiatives under his "Blight to Beauty" campaign.

Faye Nelson, the Michigan director of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, led the following session on the $2.5 billion redesign of the Henry Ford Hospital partnership that's expected to transform Detroit's New Center with the help of the Detroit Pistons and Michigan State University. Bob Riney, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health, Arn Tellem, vice chairman of Pistons Sports, and Teresa Woodruff, interim president of Michigan State University, joined the panel.

Woodruff said the university has been active in the city for more than a century, but typically in agriculture and nutrition. Despite ongoing investigations into MSU's former head football coach Mel Tucker, some of the 100 attendees Thursday still chanted "Go Green" in support.

"We're betting (that) tomorrow's patients will be treated better than today based on this new generation of research," Woodruff said. "Detroit is essential to the health of the state. Strengthening Detroit starts with a foundation of health and these are tangible. We are in the second of a 30-year partnership that I predict will be much longer."

Riney highlighted the recent announcement from billionaires Dan and Jennifer Gilbert of an estimated $434 million effort with Henry Ford Health to help people recover from strokes in Detroit while establishing a research facility that will work toward finding a cure and treating a genetic condition from which their late son suffered.

"(Gilbert) has also put a $10 million aside for Detroiters to help with co-pays to ensure they're able to access medical treatment," Riney said. "We hope that this inspires others to make philanthropic gifts. Our philosophy is no check is too big."

Tellem said the Pistons were one of the last teams to be playing in the suburbs before moving their 300 employees downtown with the help of Henry Ford, which crafted a practice facility with a sports medicine center near the New Center's existing hospital.

On Wednesday, the Pistons celebrated the completion of 60 refurbished basketball courts in the city in the last six years.

Riney also touted, "There is no NBA team that is leaning into the community as the Detroit Pistons. They are a model for what our athletes should be."

Entrepreneurs including Melissa Butler, CEO of The Lip Bar, Sean Carroll, co-founder of EnBiologics and HoneyCure, and Marc Howland, co-founder of Breadless, spoke on their entrepreneurial scorecard. Some of the city's top chefs, including Jared Gadbow from Oak and Reel, Ederique Goudia from In The Business of Food, Anthony Lombardo from SheWolf, and Hassimi Mamba of Baobab Fare, spoke about making the city a dining destination.

On Friday, Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist is expected to speak on connecting communities, former "Bad Boy" Isiah Thomas will talk about moving back to the city and Justine Johnson, Michigan's Chief Mobility Officer, will talk on EVs with directors from General Motors and Michigan Central.

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