Bill Ford worries that southeast Michigan lags behind other regions in developing technologies that would revolutionize the global automotive industry with new, environmentally friendlier propulsion systems.
Bill Ford focuses on technology
Auto exec fears Michigan lags in industry's future
May 27, 2007
The recent explosion of interest and investment in alternative fuels and other so-called "clean technologies" feels a bit like vindication to Bill Ford.
"When I talked about this stuff in speeches 10 years ago, people thought I was some sort of Bolshevik," the executive chairman of Ford Motor Co. told the Free Press in a rare interview last week.
Vindication aside, Ford is worried that southeastern Michigan is lagging behind other regions in developing new technologies that will revolutionize the global automotive industry in years to come.
He plans to call for an intensive effort to identify and recruit cutting-edge technology firms to metro Detroit -- even tapping high-powered business leaders to get personally involved -- in a speech Thursday to the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual policy conference on Mackinac Island.
"I've spent a lot of time recently in Silicon Valley, visiting companies and venture capitalists," Ford said, noting that all major California-based technology firms have Detroit offices because the auto industry is a big customer for them.
"But they shouldn't just have sales offices here. Why can't we be the incubators of ideas here? We need to be the intellectual locus of the technology that's going to transform our industry," Ford said.
Ford, 50, has kept a low profile since September, when he hired Alan Mulally as president and chief executive officer of Ford Motor. Ford, CEO for the previous five years, took the new title of executive chairman at the Dearborn automaker. He has done few interviews since then and limited his speeches to Ford employee and dealer groups.
But behind the scenes, he has taken a more active role in Detroit Renaissance, starting a two-year term in January as chairman of the influential CEO group's executive committee, just as it was launching Road to Renaissance, a new economic development strategy for the region.
Goals are to boost entrepreneurship, attract and retain top talent, and enhance Detroit's status as a global hub for automotive and other transportation industries.
"There's no question that, in the next 10 or 20 years, we're going to have very different propulsion systems for vehicles. And there's no reason why Detroit and southeast Michigan shouldn't be where the action is," Ford said.
Problem is, Detroit and Michigan are increasingly NOT where the cutting-edge automotive technology action is.
Not only have hometown car companies Ford, General Motors and the Chrysler Group been downsizing, but the national surge in clean-technology investment is mostly happening elsewhere.
Clean tech is the fastest-growing segment of venture capital. But of $2.9 billion in clean-tech investment in North America last year, only 9% was in the Midwest, said James Croce, CEO of Detroit-based NextEnergy, a nonprofit formed five years ago to accelerate Michigan's activities in alternate energy. Nearly 60% went to the West Coast or to New England, he said, citing data from the Clean Tech Venture Network in Brighton.
Just a few years ago, some pundits were scoffing at the notion of a self-professed environmentalist -- Ford -- running an auto company.
"Now all the automakers are out to prove who's greenest," Ford said.
But Michigan must do more outreach, he said, to attract more of the innovative companies in that field.
Doug Rothwell, president and CEO of Detroit Renaissance, said Ford has been "very intimately engaged in each step of the Road to Renaissance action plan."
Ford returned the compliment, saying he agreed to chair the Renaissance executive committee only because Rothwell and Domino's Pizza CEO David Brandon convinced him that the group was committed to action and measuring progress. "The last thing I needed was another committee studying the problems of the last 20 years," Ford said.
The Road to Renaissance plan dovetails with One D, a broader regional collaboration of groups ranging from United Way to the Detroit Regional Chamber and New Detroit, championed by Ford's cousin Edsel Ford II. Edsel Ford will kick off a series of One D planning sessions at the Mackinac gathering this week.
Other scheduled speakers at Mackinac include Teamsters union President James P. Hoffa on Wednesday and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger on Thursday.
Bill Ford, meanwhile, expects to become a bit more visible in the coming months.
Immediately after Mulally's arrival, "I thought, early on, that I didn't want any confusion, externally or internally," Ford said. "I certainly didn't want anyone internally going around Alan and coming to me."
Ford still consults regularly with Mulally on the car company's turnaround progress.
"You'll start seeing more of me as we roll into the rest of this year," he said.
Contact TOM WALSH at 313-223-4430 or twalsh@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
May 27, 2007 Nolan Finley Business is essential to fixing schools Michigan's public schools stink, say the state's business leaders, and they're not willing to pony up more money for education until something is done to stop teacher benefits from sucking up all the dough. Those are the headlines from an education survey done for the Detroit Regional Chamber in advance of its annual policy conference on Mackinac Island this week. Asked if Michigan's school system is providing students with the basic knowledge they'll need for college and careers, the executives answer with a near unanimous "NO!" in the survey by John Bailey and Associates. Eighty-seven percent say the schools are either not preparing children to succeed or are doing so inconsistently. And they don't believe more money will make things better. Or to be blunt: They aren't crazy about pouring new tax dollars into schools only to see them used to protect obscenely generous pension and health benefits. Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Democratic state legislators, who have yet to come around to benefit reform, better be listening. Taxpayers, particularly the state's biggest taxpayers, are fed up with scarce education dollars going to protect teacher perks at the expense of classroom quality. Business must step up But the business executives can't just complain about the sorry state of education. They have to roll up their sleeves. This year's Mackinac conference is focused on the One D project to revitalize the region, and education preparedness is a top priority, Edsel Ford says. "The critical question is, 'Are we really doing a good enough job in preparing our children for the future roles they have to play?' " says Ford, who chairs One D. "And then, 'How can we as a business community help?' " Here's a place to start: Get behind Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's plan to open up to 25 public charter schools in Detroit. The mayor hopes to partner with businesses and other institutions to open themed schools with curriculums that stress everything from health care to entrepreneurship. It's an ambitious project, but offers the quickest and most effective route to finally bringing Detroit children the same education options and quality that suburban children enjoy. The mayor's plan won't work without the cooperation and cash of the business community. Michigan companies don't have a lot of spare change these days, but fixing education is an essential investment. Former Mayor Dennis Archer says businesses do work individually to support education, but says schools, particularly public schools, must better communicate their needs. "If you don't know what's missing, you don't know what you can do to help," says Archer, who is championing the chamber's education efforts. "I don't get the sense that there's a meaningful working relationship between the public schools and the business community." Business leaders obviously recognize the size of the education shortfall in Michigan, as evidenced by the survey results. I'd like to see them asked one more question: What will you do to help? Nolan Finley is editorial page editor of The News. Reach him at nfinley@detnews.com or (313) 222-2064. Read his daily blog at forums.detnews.com/blogs/, and watch him at 8:30 p.m. Fridays on "Am I Right?" on Detroit Public TV, Channel 56.
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