Expanded budget finance and audit standing committee for the purposes of budget hearings for fiscal year twenty-seven.

Uh we will start off with the DEGC, D E G C D D A, E D C as well as L D F A.

Come on down.

Please come forward.

And I apologize.

Uh Madam Clerk.

I know I was ready to go jump into it.

Uh Madam Clerk, will you please call the role?

We didn't start just yet.

Councilmember Scott Vincent.

Councilmember Letitia Johnson.

Councilmember Denzel McCampbell.

Present.

Councilmember Renata Miller.

Councilmember Gabriella Santiago Romero.

Present.

Councilmember Mary Waters.

Councilmember Angela Whitfield Callaway.

Clerk with some notes.

Council President pro temper coming A.

Young the second.

Mr.

President, you have a quorum present.

Thank you.

We have a quorum present, which means we are now officially in session.

Is that better?

Yes.

Good morning.

Um my name is Kevin Johnson.

I'm president of Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.

Uh I'll let my uh colleagues introduce themselves.

Good morning, Mr.

President and Council.

I'm Derek Head.

I'm Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Operations at the D E G Cone Long, Chief Financial Officer.

And I do have some colleagues behind me uh that I'd like to introduce.

I'll have them introduce themselves.

Good morning, Sean Gray, Senior Vice President of Small Business Services.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh floor is yours.

Thank you, sir.

Um, Mr.

Chair.

Um, may I share my screen?

Yes.

Have sharing capabilities.

Thank you.

Also, Mr.

Chair, we have some colleagues that are on Zoom that may chime in during our conversation.

Just wanted you to be aware.

Okay.

Have them raise their hand.

We always ask for those phone numbers.

So if you have them in advanced team, we can have them introduce themselves.

Morning, David White, Vice President of Business Development at the TGC.

Good morning, Sean Gray Singer, Vice President of Small Business Services.

Before you you proceed, we'd like to know, Madam Fair, we've been joined by the author.

Right.

Thanks, sir.

May I share my screen?

All right, so we're going to try to figure out what this issue is with media services.

Um at the recess to call it.

We have some colleagues that are on Zoom that may chime in during our conversation.

Okay.

Have them raise their hand.

They do you they do the most important thing?

But uh they don't know if the problem has been addressed.

That's why I'm saying a few words beforehand to see if there's any issues before I ask for the clerk to call the role.

Okay.

There's nothing.

All right, now I'd like to call back to order today's um uh budget hearings, expanded budget finance and audit standing committee.

Uh Madam Clerk, will you please call the role?

Councilmember Scott Benson.

Councilmember Letitia Johnson present.

Councilmember Denzel McCampbell.

Present.

Councilmember Renata Miller.

Councilmember Gabriela Santiago Romero.

Present.

Councilmember Mary Waters, present.

Councilmember Angela Whitfield Callaway.

Clerk was on notes.

Council President Pro Tempera Coman A.

Young the Second.

Council President James Tate.

Yep.

Mr.

President, you have a corn present.

Thank you.

We have a corn present present, which means we're back in session.

We'll give them an opportunity to do so before we begin the presentation.

So if you see yourself on the screen, please introduce yourself for the record.

Good morning.

Jennifer Canales, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.

Good morning, Rebecca Nevin, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation.

If you have any more, uh Mr.

Johnson, we'll just have them come in.

Absolutely, Mr.

May proceed.

Council President.

Again, good morning.

It's indeed an honor for us to sit before you to present uh data specific information regarding economic development activity here in the city of Detroit, supported by uh US City Council as well as uh Madam Mayor uh Mary Sheffield.

Uh this year uh in alignment with uh Mayor Sheffield, uh it is our goal and our role to play an integral uh part of Mayor uh Sheffield's goal of making Detroit uh the best place to start and grow uh small businesses in this city as well as larger enterprises that we desperately need to continue to uh cultivate uh in this city uh to grow jobs and investment uh for long-term uh prosperity.

Uh as the established driver of commercial and industrial development, um on behalf of this the city of Detroit, DGC will take a fresh look uh at expanding uh and refocusing our efforts uh in establishing uh retail development in and around uh this city and specifically uh in neighborhood corridors uh in the city of Detroit.

Uh we will also as as a DEGC facilitate a newly revised retail strategy, uh and we will insist assist in implementing that strategy uh as we have uh the capabilities along with uh our partners uh to to make that make that happen.

Uh the DEGC uh is a private uh nonprofit organization established in 1978.

Uh and they're urging uh and construction uh by Mayor Coleman Young.

Responsible for implementing the city's economic development policies and strategies is the role that we play uh and have been playing since 1978.

Uh we're responsible for administration uh administering the the economic development public authorities uh on behalf of of the city, and for that we're very very grateful and proud to play that role.

Our also our role is also to attract investment, create jobs, and support neighborhoods that advance Detroit's economy uh for all the residents of our of our great city.

The city of Detroit provides uh two point uh zero nine one million dollars on the contract with our organization to implement economic development services, and it's performed by 70 uh dedicated employees, uh including our district business liaisons.

The city also provides $2.8 million to the economic development corporation of the city of Detroit, the EDC, if you will, consisting of $36,000 for the DZ DGC to provide staffing and administrative support and $2.55 million for programs like the DL BP startup retail traction, small business emergency funding, and other services when uh required.

The city also provides $2.5 million for the economic development corporation for our motor city match program that we are very, very proud of.

Matter of fact, yesterday we uh opened our 22nd uh Motor City Match uh business uh in the six-mile uh corridor uh yesterday, so we're very happy about that.

I will now turn uh to Derek Head who will walk through uh our operations strategy and um Derek.

Well you of course across the screen.

Thank you.

One second.

Must be some gremlins in here today.

Right.

Gotta be all right.

There's more than one way to skin a cat.

Please excuse me, Mr.

Chair.

Yes, sir.

I think it's contagious.

My computer's also spinning as well over here.

So it's not the one if I've got it.

One second.

Why is this blank?

Mr.

Corley, you remember when we used to have the big board books we walked around with?

Didn't have this problem back then.

Had a bad back, but didn't have this.

All right.

This technology.

All right.

My AI program, the latency.

Yeah, I'm gonna share it now.

I'll switch it over.

All right.

All right.

All right, here we are.

Thank you.

And appreciate your patience.

Absolutely.

The section that I manage is the operations sections.

And in operations, we coordinate strategy, planning, and policy.

We oversee critical metrics.

We manage relations with city council.

We lead special infrastructure related activities.

We manage local and state federal funding proposal.

We oversee grants, and we manage relations with outside agencies.

And one of those policy items that we're working on is we're addressing the sunsets of several tax abatements and also dealing with the abatement cliff.

That work is ongoing.

In addition, we leverage grants that come in from the state and federal government.

A couple of examples of that are the Greater Eastern Market Streetscape Project, where we leveraged 6.2 million dollars in grant funding to reconstruct four streets in the Eastern Market and sidewalks.

And also we have the Jefferson Park Feasibility and Sign Design Project where we plan to create a new park on the east side.

Some of those residential things that we're doing.

And now with your I will pass this along to my colleague David Howe.

Thank you, Ms.

President.

Thank you.

David Howell, Senior Vice President of Real Estate with DGC.

I was having some technical difficulties earlier and didn't introduce myself.

So again, good morning.

Um we do a number of things uh with respect to engaging the development community, uh some of which are uh on major projects.

We provide project feasibility, financial mark modeling and uh uh underwriting uh for most of the major commercial projects uh proposed in the city.

Um of course uh we underwrite uh all tax abatement requests.

Um we uh have developed and and implemented a tax abatement education series uh at the bequest of uh councilman uh Benson.

Um we uh structure uh all uh structure and underwrite uh debt investments uh made on behalf of our public authorities, uh for instance the EDC and the DDA uh and we play quarterback in a sense of um uh coalescing resources from uh local, state and federal funding sources to effectuate development projects.

We also uh aid and assist developers in in site selection and analysis.

Uh and then we have the privilege of of leading uh some of the major land sales uh in Detroit through RFPs recently uh last year we let the effort to uh uh identify a developer uh for the four former 22 acres of the former Rogale site, uh Rogale Golf Course, as well as uh six acres in southwest Detroit on uh Verner.

Next slide, please.

Some of the things we uh some of the projects we were uh involved in uh recently is the uh DCFC Soccer Stadium.

It's a 175 million dollar project, uh 15,000 seat stadium in Southwest Detroit.

Um another project we were involved with uh recently is the uh uh WNBA facility.

Um as all of you know that Uniroyle site, 42 acres had been sitting uh vacant uh uh for decades, and we work very closely with the city uh in the Pistons organization and coming up with the strategy to redevelop the uh 42 acres again, which will house the WNBA facility, as well as a sports academy that will service uh and provide opportunities for uh many our many of our Detroit youth.

Um we are also very active uh in the neighborhoods.

Um we uh uh help support through uh tax incentives and TIFF, uh the redevelopment of 2021 Livernoy, uh which will turn an old uh furniture store into 53 units of uh housing uh along Livernoy, uh near Eight Miles, 14.2 million dollar project, the hub, uh which was before you all uh with respect to tax incentive request, um uh cafe and laundromat uh and community hub, if you will.

Uh and then uh Bob Fair East, uh, its second location, which will be in in uh D4.

Uh many of us uh enjoy uh Bob Oak Fair and we're looking forward to a second location.

Next slide, please.

So in 2025, uh we uh uh presented uh 17 abatement certificates uh to city council, which were approved.

Uh 70 percent of the Mr.

Howell, we're gonna have to have to ask you to pause just a bit.

Uh we're gonna have some additional technical difficulties with our feed.

Can you say a few more words, please, and see if it comes through?

Yes, uh 70 percent of the uh 17.

Can you hear me now?

Yes, sir.

You may proceed.

Thank you, sir.

Uh I'll finish up here.

Uh 70 percent of the abatement certificates approved last year.

70 percent uh were outside the CBD uh midtown and new center areas, which we uh uh define as the city core.

So we're very active uh working with the city uh in and uh effectuating development in the neighborhoods.

Those 17 abatements represent about 533 million dollars of investment, 639 units uh of which uh apartment units of which 142 are affordable.

Uh and we participated in uh one tier uh one CBO project, which was again the DCFC stadium.

Uh so with that said, I will pass it along to my colleague David White.

Good morning, thank you for having me again.

David White, VP of Business Development here at the DEGC.

I have the pleasure of leading the BD team, which includes both the corporate attraction function and the business retention and expansion function.

On the corporate attraction side, I'd say 2025 was a year of transition, uh, tariff policy at the federal level, shifts in clean energy policy, uh inflationary pressures, the rise of AI, cuts uh at the state budget have certainly had an impact on the supply chain, uh the site location decisions of the companies that we routinely interact with.

Uh so our our job and our task is to both maintain the leadership in the sectors that we currently have here in the city of Detroit, but also uh be ready for that shift and to prepare for the the opportunities that are coming along with the new sectors and the new supply chain opportunities uh that are possible here in the city of Detroit.

Uh in recent years and currently we still focus on what we call our prosperity sectors from a corporate attraction perspective.

Those are the sectors that we feel we have the right to win because of the assets that we have here in the city, the region, and the state.

Those include automobility and advanced manufacturing, clean energy and sustainability, and research engineering and design.

But we're now, because of those shifts shifts I mentioned earlier, we're we're becoming more active in what I call our opportunity sectors for diversifying the industry mix here in the city and to grow uh the jobs of the future for Detroit residents.

And those include aerial mobility, leveraging what's happening at Michigan Central, uh defense, leveraging our advanced manufacturing heritage, uh, you know, the strength of the of the Macomb County Defense Corridor, what's happening in aerial mobility, and life sciences innovation, leveraging Henry Ford Health's future health project, Wayne State's investment uh in higher education in the health space, and what Bedrock's looking to do down to downtown the life sciences site uh at the former jail site.

Next slide, please.

Uh there I actually on the previous slide, there was a photo of Andre Gudger, uh, who is the CEO of ECLON, and the Ecolon project is a project we're really proud of.

It does represent uh activity in those opportunity sectors.

Eccolon is a defense and cybersecurity company that chose to uh relocate most of their operations from Maryland to the Icon building, the former GM UAW Center on the East Riverfront.

Um Eklon's gonna create in the neighborhood of 800 jobs, many of which are going to be accessible to Detroit residents.

Uh they did sign a priority hiring agreement with Detroit at work to prioritize uh the hiring and recruitment of Detroit residents, amongst other things to focus on providing those jobs for Detroiters.

So ECLON is a great example of the type of projects we're gonna be looking to win in the future.

So within our focus industry sectors, uh the BD team uh focuses on trade show and event attendance, site selector engagement, broker engagement, cold outreach to companies.

We just completed an aerial mobility code outreach campaign to 40 innovative aerial mobility companies across the U.S., marketing and much more.

But we also are the single point of contact for every inquiry that comes to the city of Detroit, regardless of the sector.

So we ensure we're running those to ground and passing those off to our partners uh should we need to.

In 2025, uh we still uh you know had some great successes.

We announced 1,095 new jobs, ECLON being a significant portion of those, 253 million dollars in capital investment, and we generated 72 new projects and leads uh through our uh proactive attraction efforts.

I will note that we did have two projects uh that uh were announced that sign leases here in the city, but um because of some of those shifts in clean energy policy, tariff policy, et cetera, uh lost their federal funding for those projects, and those projects uh were either placed on hold or canceled, unfortunately.

So, an example of some of the headwinds that we dealt with in 2025.

Next slide, please.

Finally, on the business retention side, which has been a major focus for us in 2025.

Uh, we've been really focusing on scaling up our efforts uh uh with with corpor with business retention in the neighborhoods outside of Greater Downtown.

Our business retention team uh attends, schedules and attends annual retention visits uh with our partners, Detroit at work, MEDC, Wayne County, and others we feel are necessary to support that company.

We provide a curated list of resources and follow-ups and partner referrals to those companies.

We track and report the outcomes from those visits.

And we serve as the single point of contact to lead the expansion projects that we may identify as part of those retention visits.

In 2025, again, we really focused in on supporting our neighborhood businesses.

We conducted 48 retention visits, 80% of those were outside of the greater downtown area, identified six competitive expansion projects, which we're currently managing to win those in the city.

All of those are outside of Greater Downtown and represent in the neighborhood of 257 potential new jobs.

413 referrals were made to our partners as a result of those retention visits to bring additional support to those companies.

So with that, I will wrap turn it over to the next presenter.

And thank you very much.

Looking forward to your questions.

Thank you.

My colleague Sean Gray, please.

Absolutely.

Thank you so much.

Good morning.

Great to see all of you.

Really excited to be here as a lifelong resident and Detroit.

It means a lot to see just the commitment and heart that our city council has and our mayor has for our small businesses.

Two of the first small businesses I pass every morning are my daughter's uh pie stand in my foyer.

And uh I'll just say businesses down, but I do hear that tariffs have had a significant impact.

And I'm gonna have a work on their flavor profiles.

I've seen their menu, it ain't great.

But you know, I'm I'm kidding, but I think it's really important what we do when we look at uh the ribbon cutting we had yesterday and all these ribbon cuttings.

We go in and you know, you see mom or dad who've made a lot of sacrifices of their time starting this thing that started in their heart, bringing it to their corridor, and they might start crying, and then the mom who is watching the kids, their mom who's watching their kids while they were at the shop, starts going, and then the kids start going.

And a really big part of this for me that we do is seeing those children see their parents actuate and effectuate their dreams on our corridors.

Uh really helps our next generation understand where they fit, uh, that they can see a need in their community and try their best to fill it.

Uh we're honored to be able to support these folks.

I mean, literally, this is all everyone is doing as a kid in my granddad's plumbing shop.

And so I appreciate uh the city giving us the opportunity to run these programs.

We are absolutely doing our level best to support folks.

We had a uh one of our motorcycle match awardees had a fire uh last night, and we're working to uh kind of wrap our arms around her and figure out how we can support her.

Um we really do, you know, eat, sleep, and breathe this work.

We're passionate about the work.

We're grateful for all that our council members do because we know we see you as we're in the field and you bring us to things that we aren't at yet uh and call us out on things where we can do more, and so we greatly appreciate that.

Uh do want to just kind of give a high-level overview of some of our programming.

Uh, Motor City Match, of course, is how we uh connect small business owners or potential small business owners to spaces uh in our corridors and across our city, and also we how we match their investments uh without coming in asking for equity commitments.

Uh we come in and put in the dollars that you give us to do so, uh, you know, sometimes 50 to 80,000 dollar uh investments in these businesses, and that actually helps unlock their access to capital.

A lot of times, you know, uh my whole career people say, Well, how do we get how do we unlock capital in urban communities?

And it's like, well, the first problem is that many of the folks who are starting businesses do not come from capital, and capital has a tendency to flow to people who are already leveraging capital.

And so this program is really important in helping us make sure that people can have a dream uh that they see on their corridor and get out there and create it.

Uh so it's been uh a really great journey, as Kevin mentioned.

We had our 202nd uh ribbon cutting.

Uh, one interesting thing to note about our data sometimes is that we count ribbon cuttings, but we actually have more businesses open than the number of ribbon cuttings at some given points, just because what has happened is some businesses decided they didn't want the publicity.

Some businesses really got open out of season.

Uh most of these businesses, so you see our ribbon cuttings pick up a lot in spring summer.

People want that hit of publicity, they want people outside cutting the ribbon.

It was pretty cold yesterday, so I understand why.

Um, and so we actually had a number of businesses open that's higher than the number of ribbon cuttings we have.

We've been trying to square that for a while, but we have a lot of data on it, working very closely with Dr.

Marlowe Rancho to share all of our data and just to make sure that we are uh marching right in step with uh the priorities of the city as well.

Uh District Business Liaison team, you know, my hope is that each of you know your DBL really well.

Uh these are folks who go out into the field and connect with small business owners to uh sometimes share things that they're uncomfortable saying that they may not want to raise their hand and self-identify as having a uh enforcement issue or ticketing issue.

And so the DBLs are the tip of the spear uh on helping to elevate some of those issues and uh ease some of the concerns that folks have so that they aren't as afraid of doing business with the city or being candid about oftentimes long uh suffering uh issues.

I've had one business owner who uh called to report a blight issue and ended up himself getting tickets, and so they usually want to avoid that, and our DBLs kind of help them uh you know elevate their concerns, be heard uh in a way that's gonna get them towards the solution.

So our DBLs work really closely with BC and other departments to know exactly who I can point this person to to hear back in short order.

Uh the Green Grocer Program, of course.

We had we were fortunate to have our very first uh ribbon cutting uh through that program a few weeks ago, and it was really amazing uh to see how much produce you can fit into uh just a few hundred square feet, really.

It was uh very uh exciting to see that.

And then one thing too, I think sometimes in Detroit we hear from folks and they say, well, maybe when Detroit has more density, they will have this opportunity or this type of business.

And I think it's really important to note that we all understand that really dignity has to go before density in some instances, and we have to acknowledge where policy failures uh and in some instances intentional policy has steered opportunities away from our communities.

And so we when we start these initiatives, when we try to do this work, we do try to lead with a sense that uh you know it's about bringing dignity uh back to some of these communities and making sure people are served.

So the Green Grocer Project is really about helping to stand up.

It's played an important role in helping to attract uh larger shops like Whole Foods and Meyer, and now we pivoted to helping to stand up uh small format full-scale grocery stores that are really scaled to the neighborhood to the opportunities in many of our neighborhoods, and so we are honored to uh to do that work.

Uh I want to also uh mention uh Detroit Legacy Business Project, which is a newer project, but really has been powerful.

We just uh yesterday selected uh the awardees for round three, so that's not released yet.

But I I hope that each of you will be proud and pleased when you see those lists come out.

We try really hard to make sure that we're uh representing all of the districts and and all the communities, and so we're trying to uh find ways to shift that program to impact more of our legacy businesses.

We know uh when we think of Motor City Match businesses struggling due to tariffs and other uh pain points, you know, in their just even in their first six months.

A lot of our legacy businesses have struggled and fought uh through economic challenges, mental health challenges, uh family losses, uh, incarceration of family members, so many pain points and so many things that they have survived.

Uh it is the least we can do to honor them, to lift them up.

Uh we are also uh working towards having more tools for them so that they understand secession planning and also access to employee ownership models so many times we have had uh legacy business owners who have lost family members who have lost that next generation of ownership due to a number of uh causes, and so it's really important uh for them to be uh aware of models whereby they can transfer ownership to people who may not be family members, so it may not be kind of the traditional uh view of how a business transits, but it's so important to keep these businesses around because they've informed what we wore, what we ate, what we listened to, and so many elements of who we are.

Um so uh I won't dwell too much longer on this slide.

I will say we also just uh on Wednesday selected the uh uh awardees for a startup fund as well, so we're very excited about that.

Did want to also touch up touch really briefly on Nexo 313, which is a phenomenal opportunity for us to help our 18 to 30 year old entrepreneurs have an on-ramp into the broader small business support ecosystem.

Uh we are viewing these folks as folks who are gonna be really prime for motor city match opportunities.

We're helping them get transactional, helping them do uh business plan pitch competitions, uh, and also bringing them together so that they're networked so that they're not alone as they start ideating and sharing some of what could be next for our corridors and what the next big ventures are gonna be for us.

So very honored to uh support all these initiatives.

Uh next slide, please, Derek.

Uh as I mentioned the district business liaison team uh is really uh the tip of the spear on a lot of the work that we do.

We have a lot of uh programs, and so when we're in the field, there's a lot to explain.

Uh we also do a number of facade projects too, and so our DBLs are out there uh in some instances holding the per the business owner's baby while they do a motor city match application, in many instances translating applications.

So uh we have this DBLs who also have language skills in either Spanish uh or Arabic, and so they can also speak to people in ways that they understand so they can convey uh timelines and out ideal outcomes for many of our programs.

Uh the DBL team uh served over 1,500 businesses uh last year, and that's just kind of uh typically one-on-one casework where a person will have a concern uh about a particular department, it could be treasury, it could be a number of departments, and so we are giving them on-ramps uh into uh conversation with those departments that are ideally headed towards uh effective solutions.

Uh next slide, please, Derek.

The Detroit Legacy Business uh project has been, as I mentioned, a great opportunity for us to support long-standing businesses.

Uh through three rounds of funding, we have uh awarded uh $930,000 uh to 76 grant recipients.

And the first round, uh, the design was two $50,000 awardees and $14, $15,000 awardees.

What we did in rounds two and three was we broke one of the $50,000 awards out into microgrants, uh, just because there were folks who really could have done uh a lot of impactful work on their facade, on landscaping and other areas with either 25 or 50 or $5,000.

And so we have actually ramped up the number of businesses touched by this project.

We're really grateful uh for the leadership of the mayor uh in in this program, and it's it's been really phenomenal to work with her and her team as well as uh many of our city council members.

I think uh one of our council members at the launch for round two physically took us uh we were uh on Liverno Quarter, and she physically took us into a shop, which then applied, and uh hopefully there'll be some good news coming out about that in the next coming weeks.

So we're really excited to be able to support these businesses.

Uh also one thing I want to mention we're relaunching the Detroit Legacy Business Program Um registry, and the importance of that registry is that we're gonna have a website where people can number one see these businesses and see their logos and see their offerings.

But for me, in my role is you know, when we have things like the draft come to town, when we have the NCAA come to town, it's important for me to be able to put in front of our partners at the NFL or NCAA.

Here's you know, a list of long-standing businesses.

So when people come to town, we don't want them to just, you know, we we want them to get a real taste of actual Detroit culture and the things that are important to us, and so these legacy businesses represent that.

Uh next slide, please, Dare.

Uh and one thing about Motor City Match that I really um appreciate when we talk about uh through 30 rounds of impact, we've awarded uh 20.5 million dollars in grants.

The really important list, the number for me, and the one that's not on this slide, is uh that we have helped unlock uh 110 million dollars in investments in small businesses.

Uh, when we take the amount that these folks have gone out and leverage the investment that you're making in them for is significant.

And like I said, it's you know, for years people say, Well, how do we get how do we unlock capital in urban communities?

And it turns out if you award someone a grant 25,000, $50,000 or more, and they have that, it makes them look a lot more favorable to a lender.

And so it really helps.

We spent a lot of our time connecting them to uh CDFIs and larger lenders.

Uh some of the lenders uh, you know, I I won't name names because there's no favorites.

It's if you're lending to our businesses and you're my favorite.

But uh some of the banks, some of the largest banks in the country really reach out and ask us, hey, I want to be included when you do uh these meet and greets with your motor city match awardees.

I want to be in the room.

And they show up, they share resources, they share wisdom and insight into how to get into and through their underwriting processes, which we all know can be kind of uh scary.

And so it's been phenomenal to have this as an asset to our community uh and to our small business owners.

So uh each round uh we typically get around 250 applications.

We do three rounds a year.

Uh as I mentioned, um, you know, we we have had a really phenomenal run of uh openings, and we're excited to continue that.

Uh one thing that uh I did want to touch on is that we had a uh Motor City Match alumni track that we launched with the supporters city council uh and the mayor last year, and we just literally I think it was Tuesday launched our first cohort of a training program.

Really, first thing we did was we listened to our awardees, and they talked about wanting to know more about their accounting, uh bookkeeping overall, uh, legal support.

And so what we've designed is a program uh that basically offers uh a refresh and update on entrepreneurship thought and process and marketing, and then also connections to technical assistance.

So we're gonna do about half of the amount that was awarded to us to oversee this program in technical assistance dollars.

So many times we hear from previous years, Motor City Match awardees that they're having challenges with the landlord uh or having other kind of existential crises, and so we're really excited to be able to offer them some support and steering them towards support for that.

Uh next slide, please.

Detroit Startup Fund has been uh a really exciting process.

We're really grateful to uh the city council members who have been able to join us for some of these events.

Um a lot of the startups are based around the nodes, you know, um new lab, Tech Town.

Many of them are based there, but we're really fortunate that about 85% of them are Detroit residents.

So they live in districts across the city, uh, and they're bringing jobs.

Uh, we've had a couple of them, uh two of our one of our $50,000 awardees for the first round, uh, joined us to speak at the launch most recently for the second round, and also uh has just been doing amazing things uh and has a heart and a hope for bringing biotech opportunities back to Detroit.

And so uh the hope is that we will see instead of kind of uh some of our biotech businesses that are starting Detroit being pulled to places like Boston or to places like San Francisco, uh we're gonna try to pull some of those resources back in this direction uh and look at opportunities to train the youth in biotech and other uh potential uh engagements.

So very excited for this program.

As I mentioned, we just selected the most recent uh round of awardees, so there'll be news coming out uh on this as well.

Uh next slide, please, Derek.

Wanted to also talk a little bit about some of the uh other projects that we have that we're really proud of.

Uh the Green Grocer Program, as I mentioned, has been amazing.

We've awarded 15 uh small format grocery stores uh grants, and that has totaled 350,000.

Uh we also offered a thing called Bodega Boot Camp where we work with them on understanding modern grocery marketing uh takes.

You know, a lot of times when you look at just like when you buy a house, you realize, oh, a house is just a system.

It's like you know, the roof, the foundation, all these things play together all the time, sometimes too much, depending on uh where you are.

But the a grocery store can really be run as a system.

It's really important that when we help people understand what works right now in prepared foods.

A lot of the prepared foods can be fed by their produce.

Uh, we've also availed them of uh support from fishmongers.

We've also connected them to other resources.

So we brought in folks who do fish mongering from other cities.

Uh it's been great to see the cohort of grocery stores supporting each other.

When we talk about that first ribbon cutting we had, a lot of her produce came from uh other peers of hers.

She was, you know, having a tough time with some certain produce, and they showed up for her and leaned in.

Like I said earlier, you know, a lot of times when we think about the gap for urban spaces and grocery, we think of it as just a density problem, but there really is a policy problem when large chains can basically retail cereal for more than it for less than it costs our smaller retailers to purchase it for.

It's so challenging for these grocery stores to get access to reasonably priced distribution.

Some of them have in the past resorted to purchasing items from dollar stores to put into their stores.

And so we are really uh pressing the point and trying to make sure that they're well connected to each other so that they can support.

Some of them do have uh unique access to distribute distribution, and so we're making sure that they share that and connect each other to those resources so that you get a phone call returned when you need distribution and not kind of a cold shoulder or a closed door.

And so it's been great to see them support each other.

We of course are trying to support them in every way that we can, uh, but they aren't gonna be able to do it alone.

And so we're really excited uh for that.

Here's a picture of our first ribbon cutting.

Uh, and again, uh we're really proud of this project.

Uh, also want to touch on Next Up 313.

Uh, so far, we estimate we've supported about 406 18 to 30 year old entrepreneurs.

Uh, it has been really exciting.

We had uh a summit uh last year where we had uh GMAC Cash and a few other young influencers come and talk about their entrepreneurial journeys, and it's been really exciting to share with those folks uh you know what could be next for them.

Also, we have this program and our legacy business project are run out of our special projects team.

And I you know, I think that there's really a beautiful symmetry to that when we talk about uh what's going before us with the legacy program.

I think it's really important to tie these young folks into opportunities to connect to our long-standing entrepreneurs.

It's kind of like that mythical Sankofa bird that goes forward but also looks back.

And so we're really excited to make sure that uh the youth who are who have that yin to be entrepreneurial are connected to all the things that have been and so we're uh we're like I mentioned earlier, we're doing uh business plan pitch competitions.

We've also taken them over to LinkedIn's offices so that they can understand, you know, we know young folks are experts in social media.

Oftentimes that professional social media side though just needs some support and nourishment, and so we've tried to do that through this project.

Really grateful for the support that we've had for this program.

Uh we also offered them a business compliance course.

About 65 folks took it, 15 have graduated so far.

We're gonna keep pushing kind of opportunities for them to learn how to do business with the city.

Uh but overall, I just want to say we're extraordinarily grateful for the support.

Uh next slide, please, uh Derek.

So uh, you know, in the current budget, we've got uh we're and we're grateful to see uh proposed uh Motor City Match continued funding, uh also uh continuation of legacy business project uh and startup fund.

Uh some of the things that are mentioned, I think Kevin touched on this a bit, uh retail attraction.

Uh we're gonna try to follow in the suit of our corporate attraction partners here and really figure out how do we go out and incentivize and support people who are looking to do business in Detroit.

We've seen some national brands doing pilots or smaller kind of pop-ups around either in Detroit or at the out or at the outskirts of Detroit, and we're excited to figure out how do we incentivize and support folks coming into Detroit.

But of course, you know, as I mentioned, um, how do we help them come into Detroit in a way that respects the fabric of our communities and the way that provides uh much needed services?

Every time we do a retail study, of course, neighborhood goods and services comes up.

Uh and so in many instances, people really know we know people want to be able to buy an iron or an iron board or a water filter uh right near their home.

And so we're excited to figure out how do we patch in those services, how do we attract those types of businesses that meets the needs that our community members are are asking for.

And so we're excited to have the opportunity to start doing that work.

Uh also small business emergency fund.

Uh, you know, I mentioned that we have uh Mercy Match awardee who had a fire last night, and in many instances, we are really up against it when we go out because it's not like I have an additional motor city match layer of, you know, oh, here's another 10k.

Sometimes there are folks out there who maybe had a little bit left, and we find a way to get them a new budget and allocate it to whatever their new pain point is.

Um but for the most part, when we have someone who has an emergency, be it uh infrastructure collapse, fires, and other things, um, we we don't have a lot of tools for them.

And so uh we're still designing what the emergency fund will fully look like, but uh part of what we've discussed so far is uh a low a lower zero interest uh emergency loan that is possibly has an element of forgivable uh uh disposition as well.

Uh and that's all I have.

Sorry if I've spoken too much, but just really grateful to be here.

Uh council president, uh, that is the conclusion of our presentation.

Would love to uh respond to any questions that uh uh the council has uh at this point.

Uh and thank you for your patience and and working with us to power through uh an immense amount of uh information, and we will appreciate your support.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'd like to uh note uh madam clerk that we've been joined by member Callaway.

Clerk with so note.

Thank you so much.

And we will start on this side with member Callaway.

Floor is yours, ma'am.

Yes, ma'am.

Well, thank you, thank you, Mr.

Chair, and good afternoon, everyone.

Um good morning, everyone.

Um I was listening while driving in.

My question is about that property over there on Livernoy.

When I I I heard a little bit of it, but um what is the update on that one?

That that's my main question.

And I have some others, I think they've already been forwarded to you.

Um I don't know if you've had an opportunity to look at those questions.

I think there are about eight of them, but those have already been sent.

This morning, uh council member will respond to you as quickly as possible.

Yeah, but but the property I think is Fred's furniture store that's being converted into I think 54.

Yes, yeah, just a little update.

Sure, duh through the chair.

Uh good morning.

Uh the we we meet uh with uh the developer, the MEDC, uh, the city, uh, and the lenders weekly.

We're having weekly updated uh uh weekly calls.

Um the uh uh bank financing uh for the project is moving along.

The uh MEDC is still very supportive of the project.

There was uh a glitch uh in the development process, not uncommon to any other uh development project where uh once the uh hard costs were bid out to the subcontracting community, the anticipated construction costs were a little higher uh than were uh was uh initially anticipated.

Uh the developer and is uh who's actually serving as the contractor did some value engineering, got the cost back in line, and uh uh um everything is moving forward.

I anticipate uh a closing uh this year, probably uh early third quarter, just being uh conservative.

Um the project is is back on track uh and and moving along uh uh as very well.

Okay, thank you so much for that update through the chair.

Um I guess the the folks over there are just in high anticipation of that project getting started.

Yeah, we've had that Fritz furniture over there on Livernoy for quite maybe a decade.

I mean, prior to that, it was just a flea market.

And so we are anticipating and uh with great anticipation for that to be converted to 54 units and some parking, everybody's excited about it, but it would be great if we can get some regular updates.

Um, of course.

Yeah, so if someone can just jump on, jump on the call, it's like Green Acres calls um that we had one last night, but there's garden homes who um have homes around that area.

So those are the two impacted areas, green acres and garden homes.

Um but we're yeah, I would I would uh uh welcome the opportunity to coordinate with your office and uh I'd I'd be more than willing to attend any meetings and provide updates regularly.

I as you know, I live in the district and and I drive by it uh basically every day, so I'm just excited as you are uh to actually see that project get off the ground.

But I I am encouraged.

Uh the uh all of the uh players in the ecosystem, uh, if you will, continue to rally around the project uh and and it's making significant progress.

Yeah, and thank you for that.

And my last question through the chair.

Um, I don't know who can answer this, but we do a lot of ribbon cuttings.

I heard that on my way in.

Um but then we also see a lot of closings.

If you go down on Livernoy today, one might open a day, but it's replacing one that closed yesterday.

You know, it that's what's going on.

And and it also includes some motor city match recipients.

Um, how do we help them to survive at least their first two years?

Because I just I'm not I'm not seeing it at the level that I would like to see it.

I would like to see every one of those small business business owners to survive beyond two years.

But a lot of times they come and they go.

We had the waffle, the waffle house, I I can't remember the name of it.

We had the dye company, um, the dye place on Livernoy.

There's just several of them, they come and they go, and it's just they're not there anymore.

And they were motor city match recipients.

So what do we have?

And I don't want to say this, but I am in our toolbox to support and help sus help these new business owners sustain their businesses beyond one or two years.

That that's that's that's my last question.

I think that I also included that in my package that I I just want to see them survive, and we just gotta, you know, it's the the red ribbon cutting, those are awesome.

We just had one on West McNichols, you know, my staff was there.

But then my concern is a year from today or two years from today, what can we do as a city to go beyond motor city match?

We'll match those dollars up front.

But then what is our effort and energy to help them get beyond that two-year period?

And thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I don't know who can answer that.

I don't even know if it can be answered.

It can be answered, it could be answered.

It could be answered oh, the the magic fix is upon us.

Yeah.

If I may, uh thank you very much for that question.

It comes up a lot.

Um, you know, I think we are in a really constrained uh environment where you know, we talk about all the I you know, when I think of the ideal climate to start a business in, it's really challenging right now to have any certainty.

We've started, we've helped people start uh on you know, really active corridors with I'm trying not to be too specific, but uh, you know, hair care and beauty.

When we talk about certain industries in this city, uh distribution, in some instances, there are uh uh barriers to currently existing or more robust distribution networks.

It impacts grocery stores, it impacts hair and beauty, it impacts a number of industries.

And so we've had folks where we kind of really push to get them open and ready for that ribbon cutting, and then they had a hard time two months later, three months later, filling their shelves, restocking due to tariffs, due to just other constraints.

Uh also we know as oil prices rise, oil gets priced into everything we eat by everything we do.

And so our business owners are operating in an extraordinarily uncertain space right now.

Uh one of the challenges is um we we try to let people, you know, if you have a dream, we want you to open your dream business where you dreamed it.

We don't necessarily want to tell you, hey, you know, I get that your dream was to be in Eastern Market for your food adjacent business, but the rents right now are gonna put you kind of in a tight, tight situation.

Do you know how many cups of coffee that lease is?

And so we do have those conversations.

Uh we try to avoid pushing people to the extent that they're kind of opening our vision and not theirs.

But there is there has to be the happy medium.

Uh, one thing that we have done to try to answer some of these questions for the business owners, uh, of course, we mentioned we were grateful for the support to have the alumni support.

We just started this week after kind of studying, surveying, and talking with some of our alumni about what they needed.

We just launched our cohort, alumni cohort, uh, I think it was Monday or Tuesday.

And so that is off to a start.

We'll assess how it goes and we'll hear back from folks how it's going.

But um another important thing that we have tried to do is get better access to data.

So one thing that I did was uh we got access to a thing called Placer AI, which effectively every time one of us gets an app on our cell phone, almost every time we allow it access to our location.

Uh and what happens is most of us forget to turn that off, and then that data is anonymously and in aggregate sold.

So what happens is if I AI, and now we have access to this where we can tell a business owner, hey, here's really where the hours need to be on your corridor.

Here's where people when people are coming to your corridor.

Here's a sense of where they're coming from.

Here's a sense of kind of where they live.

So if you got people coming, if you're uh, you know, really near Ferndale, and we've got people, you know, maybe a significant portion of your bases coming from Ferndale.

Do you need to be cross-promoting with other businesses there?

Do you need to kind of really have a sense of where you can target your marketing?

Uh, we've had placer reports that showed for corridors on the west side that a lot of their business owners, a lot of their customers were or the growth in their customers were coming from corridors or or neighborhoods on the east side.

And so a lot of this is connected.

We're trying to help people have better information so they can make really good decisions about how to stay in business.

And some instances, people are sadly making solid decisions or calls to move out of transition out of business, or move go, you know, maybe they're going from a brick and mortar model to a click model.

And so there are instances where people are kind of uh changing their offerings up, offering things more online.

We do not like to see uh a business leave a space that we've supported them and invested in.

Uh but one thing that you did kind of touch on is that in some instances, people are going, motorcycle match businesses are going into spaces that were previously held by motorcycle match businesses.

So we do see that as kind of part of the catalytic nature of going from you know, spaces that have more plywood, or sometimes you got plants coming up, sunlight coming down, and now the spaces are more developed, so that when someone does have a hope or uh aspiration to open on a corridor, it shortens that runway so they can get into business a little bit faster.

But absolutely, we do not like to see businesses uh going out of business.

We understand they're under significant pressure and strain, and we are doing what we can uh so far to try to lift them up and uh support them through that.

But always open to the support and uh and intellect and hearts of our our esteemed council members, too.

Thank you, Member Calloway.

Uh Pro Tim Young.

Thank you.

Excellent to see everybody.

Always good to see you.

Uh Mr.

Hey, we dearly missed you.

Well, I'm glad you are where you are, sir.

Uh um, I just want to say uh thank you about the Green Grocer Program and inviting me.

That was a whole lot of fun.

And means is I'm the person that initially offered the money to start this program up.

Can you tell me uh what would you recommend to improve the green grocer program to move forward?

And please wow me and lay it on thick for me, if you will.

Uh we we we are really grateful for uh the program and for the support.

Um the there's there's a lot that we're we're hopeful to do.

We're hopeful to have five uh additional ribbon cuttings uh this year for uh small neighborhood uh scale grocers.

Um I I don't want to get too prescriptive because it's not my role to I understand, but I I we appreciate the opportunity to to host this program.

There's a lot of need.

Um, you know, we would love to continue offering our bodega boot camp.

I think the grocers are really supporting each other in unique ways that uh will continue no matter what.

Um, and I think it's really important uh on some level for us to uh get a good handle on the data on uh where there are needs for grocery and what scale those needs are.

There are opportunities in Detroit, not just for small scale grocery, but for larger scale grocery, and so where that sits between uh this project that's currently funded and also some of the retail attraction work that we'll do going forward is something that's very much in the conversation.

A big part of the retail that we need to attract is also food access and grocery too.

Absolutely.

Uh but this program has really been key.

Um I can't say enough about how excited I was to see the offerings at Candy's uh in Durfee Innovation Society.

We've got quite a few really exciting uh ribbon cuttings coming up.

Some are also overlapping with Motor City Match.

Some of them have tapped a number of different resources.

I was just able to uh the other day make a couple calls to some of my colleagues at the SBA on behalf of one of our uh current awardees who should be opening up this summer.

And so uh there's a lot of uh needs for these for this category, but again, I I'm just I can only express gratitude.

I wouldn't want to prescribe um what could be, but just grateful for the opportunity.

No, that that's awesome.

I appreciate it.

I I kind of pick it up what you're putting down.

I guess I'm just gonna have to uh make a motion, put executive session, and then I'll just I'll figure out a number and I guess we'll just work out you know what the difference is between that, but I appreciate that.

I don't want to I didn't mean to put you on the spot, I just was hoping you had like you know an actual number I could run with because I'm trying to keep it going.

All right.

Anyway, my second question I wanted to ask you is the I think from what I'm seeing, I like what I'm seeing.

I like the economic development and progress for me.

When I'm going out in the community and don't talk to my constituents, it's there's certain issues that I have because whenever we have these conversations from a tax perspective, we always get bogged down in terms of who's getting it and what it's doing and what it's not.

And what I would really like is I like to have more data in terms of the impact that these incentives have or these discounts have.

And so what I mean is there's an analysis called the Genie Index, which basically determines income inequality.

If we're talking about like major projects that qualify for a transformational brown field, I would like to know what impact that would have on that.

I like to know what impact does it have on the gross domestic product versus the debt.

I would like to know what impact these would have on poverty, on reducing poverty.

Um, I think you know, it depends on what analysis you look at.

So say we're at 31%, somewhere, say we're at 34%, depending on that analysis.

I would like to have more data in terms of how this impacts that.

Um we talk about jobs, which are good.

I also think it's important for us to talk about salaries as well or wages as a whole.

You don't have to get specific, but just wages in terms of what that is.

So when I'm going out there, I'm saying these are high paying jobs, not like we're just creating small jobs.

I also think that um, and this is where technology comes into play, and it's important.

I'm gonna get on when I wrap up, I'm gonna get to that.

But it's also important for us to realize that sometimes we look at it from an individual project.

So this project wasn't success because it only hired 25% of Detroiters when the number was 50.

And if you look at it from an individual perspective, that's bad.

But if you have 10 or 15 projects that you're doing over the course of so many years, that needs to be addressed.

Because yeah, it looks bad if it's 25%, but if you've got 25% times five or times seven or whatever, that's a whole lot of more people being hired over that period.

That's a different economic picture when I'm talking to my constituents.

And so I think these are some of the analysis that I would like to see.

I also would like to see that this is a little bit more complicated, but I would also like to see a little bit something in terms of the connection between economic development and health or mortality.

So there's a study that says nationally, for every 1% the unemployment rate goes up, 38 to 40,000 people die.

Okay, that's according to Yale and John Hopkins.

In Detroit, it's it's not exact, but you know, it's the estimate, but it's about that applies about like 60 to 100 people.

I think we need to have analysis in terms of what this does, what this impact has for these projects.

There's another project by uh another analysis by uh CNBC that says that for every time you close a plant, opioid use goes up by 80%.

So we're not just talking about economic development projects and money and people getting money.

We're literally talking about life and death here.

And I also think that if you have an analysis in terms of how many small businesses we need to start in order to be able to reach full employment and the demographics of that, I think people will have a better understanding of what you're doing and why this is important.

And so I think those are things that I like to see.

And I also want to know why you're doing all that.

Um what artificial intelligence or what technology are you using to be able to collect that data?

Because that's a whole lot I'm asking you to do.

I mean, you you usually have to contract out or go talk to other universities to get all that.

And so I'm saying if with modern technology, it might be a little bit easier if you just went that route.

So if you are using artificial intelligence, tell me what it is.

If not, tell me why, and please try to impress me.

Yeah, I I can I can tell you that most certainly we will be using some AI tools to try to track some of the data that you requested, uh, as well as uh accessing to a university system who may have a little deeper dive relative to uh uh the economic development and health stress uh situation.

That's that is a real thing.

Um, just look at some of our friends in West Virginia who uh have some infrastructure problems uh and it's caused, you know, tremendous health crisis in that part of the United States.

So I I think we will be able to kind of dig into this uh a little bit.

Um any interns that's listening to us right now, please call me.

But uh anyway, uh that'll be that would be something that we'll have to use some tools to to to uh help satisfy uh these questions.

We will do that.

Well, excellent.

I I I appreciate that.

And uh I just wanted to just tell you um, I hope that you take all my ideas and run with them.

I think you'll be better off if you do.

But uh I just want to kind of sell you why I think this is important, the performance, and then I'll make a motion to put the green grocery executive session, then I'll be done.

So if you're talking about implementing your deal underwriting artificial intelligence, the cost of that would be $2 million.

And the performance gain would be smarter approvals.

Your performance increase would be 25 to 40%, but your revenue, your savings would be 12 million.

If you're talking about your your tax increment finance forecasting artificial intelligence, your cost would be 1.5 million.

It'd be better capture modeling, but it'll be a 15 to 25% performance increase, and it'd be 20 million dollars of revenue and savings.

Your corridor targeting AI would be 2 million dollars, faster development, it'd be 20 to 30% performance increase and $15 million in savings.

Your land intelligence AI would be 1.5 million dollars in cost, better land use would be 20 to 35% performance increase for 10 million dollars of revenue and savings.

Your compliance uh plus your CBA AI would be 1 million dollars in costs, it'd be real-time enforcement, but it'll be a 50 to 80% increase for $6 million in revenue and savings.

Your business attraction AI would be $1 million in cost, but it'll be higher conversions, it'd be 10 to 20% performance increase for 12 million dollars of revenue and savings.

Your procurement and Linux artificial intelligence would be 0.75 uh million, but you have better local cost, your better local matching be 10 to 25% performance increase and five million dollars revenue and uh savings, and then also I just want to say your stronger audits, your cost would be for your um, you know, so your fraud detection AI, excuse me, be one 1.0 million dollars, stronger audits, 30 to 60 percent performance increase for 8 million dollars in savings and revenue.

So your total initial investment will be 11.5 million.

Your annual operating cost be two to three million, but your total direct revenue savings would be 88 million dollars a year.

Your total tax leakage prevented would be 36 million dollars a year, your combined fiscal impact 124 million dollars a year, your return on investment would be 10 to 11% return for payback period would be one year.

And when I say tax leakage, are talking about missing tax revenue due to gaps, avoidance, inefficiencies, and internal capture.

And I just want to say if you added blockchain that's a digital ledger, you have 30% total leakage reduction, your system-wide 70% reduction in fraud-related leakage, 40% and 60% improvement in compliance enforcement, and 10 to 25% reduction in land holding respect to land holding losses.

So thank you for that.

I appreciate that.

Um, I would like to I will send all this to you.

This is not a game show.

I'll just let you know.

I'm just I'm just I'm gonna let you know the case, and then I'll send you the information.

I'm not expecting you to remember all this afterwards.

Um, I would like to make a motion to put the green grocer program in executive session.

All right, colleagues, there's a motion on the floor.

Any objections?

Seeing none, that action shall be taken.

I'm done.

Thank you.

I just want to um just remind everyone we do have another budget hearing coming up after this one, uh, as well as one o'clock uh committee.

Uh and then we have two more budget hearings afterwards.

So not trying to shortchange the process at all.

Just asking for folks on both sides of this table uh to tighten up their questions and responses so we can execute the day uh as efficiently as possible.

I apologize, that's a long one.

Yep, gotcha.

Thank you so much.

We'll now go to uh member McCampbell.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

I'll try to keep this as concise as possible in that way.

Um I I do want to echo the sentiments of my colleague pro Tum Young um around the metrics around income inequality and poverty.

And I know there are factors that go into all of this, but as we're talking about economic development, um, it definitely has to be paired with a a vision and work around um lifting of folks, especially who are low income.

So I want to echo that.

Um, and also very excited about the Green Groceries program.

I think that's something that we'll love to see um activity in District 7.

Um, and also learn more about the criteria that is used to pinpoint locations as we're thinking about places that don't have access to fresh food and groceries.

Um you all know that I've talked about this a lot about needing to see more activity in district seven.

Um, I'll keep it short.

I just think as we're thinking about corridors.

Um, I know we have the Joy Rose study.

I know there's a a meeting tonight around that, but also, you know, uh you all have heard from folks in the aviation subdivision, um, the youth work that's going on in Littlefield.

Uh also, you know, um the master plan around Rouge Park, I think there's potential to also think about the streetscape that went up to Southfield, but also west of Southfield as we're thinking about Joy Plymouth and Warren.

Uh so just wanted to present us opportunities for us to really look into attracting and helping entrepreneurs and small businesses there.

Um, but I'll get to my questions now.

Uh Sean, you touched uh Mr.

Gray, let me uh say that.

Um, you touched on this, uh, and when I ran um, I I actually was asked by some folks of how will I deal with competing interests around business and community?

And and what I answered to them is that if we're looking at the interest of community as competition with business, we're saying that then someone will lose out, and quite often that's community losing out.

Um so I I wanted to um my question is as y'all are looking at increasing economic activity, especially in neighborhoods, and what ways are you creating programs, attracting businesses and working with communities to ensure that we have projects that line up with community needs.

Thank you so much.

Uh if I may, through the chair.

Uh it is uh Councilmember McCampbell, you know, we absolutely work really diligently to make sure our DBLs are interfacing with the Department of Neighborhoods and others to understand uh when someone when a neighbor has an issue with how a business is performing, uh, or if you know we've had we've had folks who had an issue with uh, you know, oh, this business is kind of loading trucks or unloading trucks in an alleyway uh right behind my house.

There's so many ways that our commercial corridors um intersect with the lives of neighbors, um, and it's really important that they be heard.

Uh we've had uh programs where we've lifted up concerns about uh automotive-related businesses, leaving kind of debris in communities.

Uh for me, a good business owner wants to be a great neighbor, and so we push our business owners to really focus on being great neighbors and being responsive to the needs of our communities in every instance.

We try to have our DBLs kind of tip of the sphere of our understanding on where there's a pain point, and then we go out and solve it.

In general, though, just like I said about our uh approach to kind of redo or developing retail attraction, uh a retail attraction effort.

We want to make sure we're putting people where they fit, where they want to be, uh, and not in contention with uh the neighborhood because it just won't you won't survive fighting your neighborhood.

Those are your best cheerleaders, your best customers.

They're telling their friends and family across the city and the region about you for better or worse.

And so we are always trying to make sure business owners understand you have to move with sensitivity and intentionality about how you uh handle, treat, welcome ideally your neighbors, and so I don't want to go beyond my remit, but I appreciate the question a lot.

Thank you for that, and and definitely want to continue to have that convo and be a part of that, and also being an extra uh voice in what we hear from community as well, for sure.

Thank you.

Um and for uh folks, I know I brought this up before, and uh I want to touch on abatements.

Um now that we are further in the new administration.

I know just a couple months, but um, I know it's the view of abatements as a tool to attract development because of the barriers to building, renovating, et cetera.

As we get more into the mayor's rise higher vision and it takes place, um, what work are you all engaged in to eliminate those barriers so we lessen the need to rely on abatements.

There is uh that there are layers and levels to as I'm sure you're aware of uh that uh we have to account for when we talk about business growth and opportunity in the city of Detroit.

Uh the tool um and tools were designed to level that out.

Uh and there are statewide tax implications, there's city tax implications, there's development cost implications, and if either of those get out of balance, then we have to decide what kind of advantage or disadvantage we're willing to live with.

Uh and so our analysis is based purely on keeping us in a position where we can compete for opportunities in our neighborhoods, uh where cost differentials vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, as well as when we're looking at a corporate environment where we stand a chance at winning projects.

Um I'm not sure about anybody else, but I hate to lose.

Uh and uh I don't care.

Uh if it's I don't want to lose a Southfield, I don't want to lose the Columbus, I don't want to lose, I don't want to lose.

And if we're putting ourselves in a position where we can, then that's counter to how my brain works.

So we we we have to think through all of those to balance all those situations out and then come to us some level of a consistent policy whereby uh the development community, small and large, can rely on us as a city to be a partner to help keep us on par with the competitive environment for which we work every day.

So that that's I don't know whether that answers your question, but that's a philosophical way in which we have to look at it, uh both from a revenue generating standpoint for the city as well as from our ability to uh help developers who want to invest in our city be in a position where they can compete.

Through the chair, just briefly.

See, we don't we don't willy-nelly just offer abatements.

As as we said at Nauseum, we offer abatements on a but for basis, but for abatements, these projects wouldn't go forward.

See, we're we're we're leveraging uh our property tax, which is a smaller part of the revenue uh for the city.

The primary lifeblood of the city is income tax.

That's the largest pot of income.

So we leverage that to raise a property, I mean to to raise income taxes to positively impact the general fund.

So this is not something that we we do lightly as no, I appreciate that.

And I I'm not implying that this is something that's just willy-nilly.

I what I mean by that is that I understand that there are conditions in the city and whether it's policy or such that um provide for the need to have abatements, right?

And for us to be a policy making body here in the city of Detroit, um, and to take from uh the phrase that my colleague member Santel Garmero says is that we can do hard things.

So if there are things that are causing us to say that we would lose out to other folks because there are conditions here in the city um that we can't change, I would be on board to do that so that we can lessen the need to say, oh, we have to have this abatement package to beat out Southfield or Philadelphia or whoever it is.

So I just would love to see more on that intention, because I understand when we have projects that come before us that there's a need for right now.

Um but also as a long term.

Um and I know I'm I'm running out of time, but well, I'll also say uh language access was mentioned, and I I would say um to also consider French uh for our member of our um many of our neighbors who are African immigrants and of course all um other native languages um that are from um Africa as well.

So thank you all.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you.

Um Member McCampbell.

Thank you for lifting up French, because we did have that conversation with Prio, but have not mentioned it here.

Oh thank you for that.

Uh we will now uh go to Member Benson.

Thank you, and uh thank you all for being here.

Um just wanted to talk about your continued support of cultural events in the downtown area and how you can continue to support our restaurants.

And just want to say uh thank you for the work that you do you all do.

You are very responsive.

Your small business development liaisons, you now have office hours in the third district.

We really appreciate that.

Muhit has been very responsive and very supportive of our small businesses.

Glad that you all have those positions to really liaise with our small businesses.

That that that personal touch is huge, and thank you for that.

Um looking at hopefully we're continuing on with our education um seminars and series that we do around um development incentives, the necessity, the facts versus myths.

Uh, in addition, you all have continued to support cultural events through the DDA that occur downtown.

So there's a motion to add $50,000 to the to the executive session for the DDA slash DEGC to support cultural events throughout the city of Detroit.

Colleagues, there's a motion on the floor.

Any objections?

Seeing none, that action shall be taken.

In addition, you all have supported our restaurants through the small business efforts results.

There is a huge um discussion at this table a few years ago where our dining with confidence ordinance was failed based on the myth that black businesses could not support and or uh provide safe food based on the basic um state mandates of the health code.

That was proven false.

Um at a later date, that ordinance did pass, and we now have our first dining with confidence training cohort just completed its first training on Monday through uh Michigan Detroit at work.

And so there's really supportive and and excited about that.

How are our restaurants doing, and then what can you all do to help support that industry to make sure hospitality and our dining scene is best on the planet top notch.

Uh thro through through the chair.

Uh Sean, I'm not aware or of of our team members where um we've had uh circumstances whereby that uh embracing the the the model of of uh dining with confidence has been a a problem.

Um fortunately I've lived in places whereby uh that that wasn't a question.

Uh it wasn't an opt-out.

It was either opt-in or don't open um kind of a thing.

So uh I'm not aware of that.

Maybe over time it becomes culturally embedded into how you uh own and operate uh food establishments, uh, but I'm not I'm not aware of and nor have I don't think we've been have you come off heard of any issues regarding that.

Thank you so much.

Uh if I may uh so not probably I'm grateful uh to the council member for mentioning the dining with confidence uh trainings.

Uh I know that we have uh promoted to some of our uh including some of our green grocery awardees who are uh taking in uh grow Detroit Young Talent uh team members, we've you know push them towards uh you know safe serve and other kind of the standard uh trainings, but um, you know, I would love to uh enrich or enhance my team's awareness of the dining with confidence uh trainings.

So thank you.

Um my next motion will be to the closing resolution urging DEGC to coordinate with Detroit at work and the dining with confidence uh training series to best support and optimize support for our restaurants within the city of Detroit.

All right, colleagues, there's a motion on the floor.

Any objections?

Seeing none, that action shall be taken.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh member Miller.

Good morning.

Thanks.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

Thanks for joining us this morning.

It's nice to see uh Mr.

Gray out.

I uh recently become acquainted with him and I've seen you at so many different locations.

It's unbelievable.

But thanks for joining us in to the director, sir.

Um you said you hate to lose.

You caught my attention.

You hate to lose.

That just really that resonates with me.

I tell my kids all the time, excellence or nothing at all.

And um we ended to win it, and quitting is not an option.

So my question today is I know that businesses in Detroit, a lot of them have long suffering, which was mentioned today.

We know what long suffering is, and because I've been a previous business owner and I've held businesses throughout my life as of also working a full-time job.

We know that businesses require capital, good credit, and usually that is not the case when you have a grand idea.

You can have an idea, but a lot of our small businesses do not have the accounting experience, they don't have the branding or the marketing experience.

So, what do you say to our business operators who have an idea?

And we're looking at as far as uh councilwoman um Callaway mentioned they cannot survive.

What do we do when it comes to the real support?

The support that they need to survive because I've seen a lot of businesses close, and most and we know that they the the longevity is what one to three years to make it happen.

So a lot of them don't they don't survive.

And most of them have put their entire savings in, they use their family savings.

I can speak to that.

They use their great-grandmama savings just to stay afloat.

And with the rising cost of rental, and he mentioned one that's caught on fire last night.

That means there was no insurance.

Insurance is expensive.

So you open a business, you don't have the insurance.

What are what are the protocols that they have to meet to have a brick and mortar?

Because myself, I when I was younger, I had a business, and I could not at some time provide the inventory.

I need to have the inventory.

So once we get it open, we have the lights on, we have the furniture coming in, and it's time to buy that oven that costs us $13,000.

How do we actually fund these projects?

So when you have things like Motor City Match, we'll give the money, but then we have to get an uh say for the accountant is costing maybe three thousand dollars a month.

How do we guarantee that we're gonna at least get five or ten years out of this?

Does the the help just stop?

Because you have to have continue help.

You have to come back in three years, four years.

So I my my biggest so the question that I have is how do we measure the outcomes?

What are your outcomes or metrics once we give the packaging?

Once we um say, okay, you're ready to open.

Once they receive the funding, how do you measure the outcomes and that have been achieved?

Is it like does the team have expansion?

How what business revenue?

How do we track the revenue, whether it's making business or not?

What is your what is your method to know if this is a thriving business?

After we're gonna say you have the first year, have they made money?

The second year, have they made money?

The third year, are they looking at selling their house?

Are they looking at selling their car?

What are they doing to continue to be in existence?

Yeah, I'm uh Sean, I wanna let you take uh a swag uh at um I know I said a lot, I just get it.

I get it.

Uh the there's dimensions as you can readily know to response to the the entrepreneurial journey.

Uh I've always said that entrepreneurship is a French word for crazy.

So uh I I think when you think through all those layers that have to be accounted for, first of all, you talked about the oven, right?

How how am I how am I gonna bake these cookies without this $13,000 oven?

Let's reverse engineer that for one second.

If if it's a if it's gonna cost you a $13,000 oven and you have $2200 in the bank, that might not be the time for you to want to open that particular business.

So your ambition may not align with your finances.

And so one of the things that we're trying to help with through technical assistance, and I spent some time with council member Waters, and we went through a long conversation around technical assistance on the front end.

And so marketing what it actually costs you to have that cookie shop, uh, and are your does it is your ambition align with your ability to deliver on any measure of success on that cookie shop uh may not set up for you right this very second.

So, Sean, go go ahead.

Uh thank you very much.

Um so we do have, as we mentioned, uh very grateful for the opportunity to have funded last year the alumni support program through Murray C Match.

We've surveyed uh many of our alumni to understand what they need to know.

The just in my 20 years of doing small business support, um, they typically aren't hyper candid about the pain points until it's very, very late.

Um, you know, I mean I think we all look up to entrepreneurs in in our communities, and it's challenging for them to be to move with candor uh and you know, kind of have that forward-looking uh approach.

We we try to get into those conversations with them about what's really going on.

Honestly, because of some of the boards I sit on and some of the lenders I have relationships with, I often will know someone's behind on their lease for months and months and months and months, and they won't tell me.

Uh and I can't formally know certain things that I so I see businesses going out of business.

I know that the minute their landlord puts a notice up, they're done.

And I'm you know, pinging them, calling them, so I say, hey, everything okay?

What do you need?

How can I support?

What are you doing?

You got a special going?

And so we are always trying to get people and elicit kind of that level of candor.

Where can we help build you up?

Where can we support you?

We connect people to our ecosystem.

The alumni track, uh, you know, like I said, we built a training that we just launched this week for most e-match alumni, uh, where we're getting them into a room with each other, a big part of not, you know, really one challenge, and I appreciate council president's interest in this and all his focus on this is like support for folks from a mental health standpoint.

A lot of the times when you talk, some of the what you talk about is just purely financial.

A lot of it is deeply felt and impactful for these business owners.

So it's really hard for us to have the level of trust where they can feel like they can open up about some of this.

Uh, and we appreciate through the alumni project, we've had some resources to layer in.

We're hopeful to deploy some technical assistance so that we can connect them with a CPA or a bookkeeper, someone who can kind of help them get back into a place where they're looking at their balance sheet the right way.

So often, uh the grocery store that we helped uh start through the Green Grocer Program, she talked about making 25,000 dollars with an air fryer.

So there's so often where entrepreneurs are making do with less and figuring out how to turn kind of you know unconventional resources into profitability.

And then there's also times when we're telling people, hey, how many cups of coffee is your lease?

Like slow down, and then we'll call them back and we'll be like, Did you think about this?

And they're like, Yeah, I signed.

And it's like we we were asking you to kind of pump the brakes.

So it takes trust, it takes candor.

Uh, we're really excited for what we are, you know, really just still brewing and starting with the uh Morse Match alumni track.

Um, but it it is something that we really wrestle with every day.

How do we get to the point where we can help these folks answer some of these questions so they don't have to go out of business?

And at the same time, uh it's also dangerous to guarantee them uh that they'll be uh around in some instances they maybe miss the market.

Uh we try to help them think through how to rebrand and refocus on profitable segments.

Um, but we we absolutely are working on this and we appreciate the question a lot.

Thank you.

I only have one other question.

What criteria you use to determine the levels of funding awarded to the businesses?

Because I've seen with some of the match programs where the money was given to someone who did not even have a brick and mortar, and then they never open for three or four years when there was people that were struggling to be open.

So what what how do you gauge who gets what money?

And then I'm done.

Thank you for that question.

I'm I know my uh team is probably yelling at the screen right now, trying to give me all the answers.

But really, uh we are typically matching the investment that they show us that they have locked in.

So their funds, we're uh, you know, we're not fully, it's not 100% matched, but they have to meet certain thresholds in terms of us matching the capital they're already deploying.

Uh typically they'll come to us with a letter of intent at least signed.

Um, you know, in some instances, letters of intent don't hold.

I've had people who came to us and had a letter of intent for three years and then finally opened, and I was shocked that a landlord honored a letter of intent that long, but it absolutely uh is not static.

Typically early stage businesses, the uh where they're gonna be, what their rate is gonna be, you know, uh uh a handshake isn't really a a legal a binding legal agreement, and so sometimes they do lose their spaces.

Uh sometimes the due diligence it takes to understand their cost better, so they give us a sense of what their budget is like, and then they lock in, they go from LOI to lease, and then we start to discover things.

Of course, you start opening up walls or changing a layout, and you start to figure out oh, the plumbing that you thought was where you needed it, it turns out is not where you needed.

So now your budget changed.

And so they're absolutely uh happened instances where what looked like a short runway became a longer runway, and in some instances things have changed about their deals where we had to hold back uh or couldn't deploy funds.

And so there's lots of instances where things do change.

Typically, we try to find out as early as possible so that we can not be in the position where we've deployed funds into a deal uh that has other existential challenges.

Um but it the the deals are always very dynamic, and um, so we are also typically earlier capital in.

I mentioned about how Mercy Match helps lenders feel more comfortable.

So oftentimes too, the motor city match funds are in uh along with uh the business owners' funds are in the earlier stage, and then their lender will come in uh typically and deploy uh their loan proceeds.

So we uh we try to do the dance and not get the cart before the horse.

Uh, but even uh with our kind of somewhat cautious posture, there are instances where uh a deal doesn't happen uh based on a number of other factors.

Okay.

Am I able to like recommend people for technical assistance?

I've seen some amazing people out here that are pulling business out of the trenches.

They are, I mean, working hard and really not even just to help.

Um, is there a criteria for that?

Or can I sit down with you or talk to someone?

Okay.

Thank you very much.

All right, thank you.

Uh, before I begin, I'd like to lift up uh Beth Duncan, uh, who uh what's the uh head of DEGC for a number of years, uh 96 I think to 2002, but well before I I um was uh elected to council, but played a role in a number of projects in the city of Detroit stadiums, uh you know, restaurants, you name it.

Uh so definitely want to lift her up.

She passed, I believe, the early uh March uh 2nd, I believe it was, and uh her home going, I believe is taking place within the next couple of days, if not uh today, I know if you enlist yesterday.

So just want to lift her up.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing that.

Absolutely.

Um wanted to ask, you know, uh Mr.

Johnson, we're here every year.

I gotta ask my questions about the Grand River Corridor.

Um, and we know we've had conversations, uh, Mr.

Gray, um, as well as Mr.

Head along the way uh leading up to this point.

Uh got folks from District One who are always watching, want to know what's going on.

We try to do our best to keep them involved and engaged.

Uh, just trying to get a better understanding, get an understanding, at least for them.

Now we've again we've talked.

If you can provide an understanding to uh our D1 residents who are watching right now, uh what movement activity, business activity are we seeing on uh the Grand River corridor, uh particularly in the Grand Mount Rosedale area.

As I say, this is a neighborhood where it could sustain strong businesses.

Um but when you look up and down the street, these are closed um uh uh um uh structures, and you have spotty businesses that you know some people love, but really not a lot of activity.

We also have had situations where uh legacy businesses have closed.

And uh unfortunately our uh district business liaison who I'm not slamming him at all, really appreciate all the work that he's done in the space, uh, but was not aware.

Um, and I know we've talked about having a uh list putting a list together, certainly in district one, but it would I'm sure it'd be helpful to have it in other districts as well of these legacy businesses that have been open 40, 50 um uh plus years, um, and making sure that we have a relationship with them so we do indeed know exactly what they they need.

Can't solve everybody's issues.

We know it, but at least to you know have a fair shot at trying to provide that assistance because when a business that's been there for 40 plus years uh just suddenly closed down, um, as member McCambo indicated, there's no winners and losers.

We just all lose in that situation.

It's not a good thing at all.

So trying to find out more from uh DEGC, um as we talk about getting deeper into the neighborhoods, providing that assistance, um, what does that look like?

Because I have not heard.

I know we have the restaurant that's going to be opening up at the Minnoch Park place.

So I've already I can stop you there.

That's one.

Uh that's a good thing.

What else do we got going on?

Because I haven't seen much, haven't heard much, haven't felt much as a resident who lives in in the neighborhood.

Go ahead.

Thank you so much for the question.

Uh, you know, a lot of what uh when I've had conversations on some of these topics with uh the mayor's team, uh the you know, the conversations that we've had over the last couple years have really been instructive in thinking about what can we do to have a better sense of, I know we've talked about canvassing the court, your uh, you know, the Grand River corridor in particular, and I think there's a lot of traction to have a better sense of where businesses are just from a data standpoint.

It you know, there's a shoe leather aspect of knocking the doors and going in when something happens, but there's also a lot of data out there uh where we can get access to Arc GIS maps that will just tell us.

If I'm standing at, you know, at this corner, here's a business that's that's you know, here's a business that maybe doesn't look like there's a lot of activity, but maybe it's a seasonal business.

Maybe it's a tax business where they don't have a lot of uh you know activity until certain time of the year.

And so having a better sense of that canvas and where people are is a very important piece.

We talked a little bit about it through legacy in terms of having a map and a tool where we can kind of help visualize where people are, but if we're not in conversation with them when a crisis happens, uh back to council member uh Miller's uh point, it's really hard for us to get candor or to move fast enough to support them.

And you know, I kind of liken it to catching a falling knife by the time that we hear or see that there's pain in that business, oftentimes uh that business owner is making kind of really difficult decisions based on maybe they have a uh a balance with enforcement and maybe they have other things that we that aren't necessarily on the surface that you know my hope is that we can move a lot closer to uh a situation whereby when a business has those types of uh things on the table where they're weighing the ongoing existence of their business versus you know, maybe they have a significant outstanding balance.

Um, is there a way for us to layer in uh, you know, be it microfinance or zero interest support uh along with some forbearance or even um uh you know amnesty.

Uh uh there's a lot of there's a lot of conversations going on around some of those things, but I do think uh that for some long-standing or long-suffering businesses that uh there will need to be uh a novel approach.

You know, I am not uh policymaker, but I appreciate I think the passion for the issue is an important place to be.

Uh we try to be good company for the journey.

Uh anything I can do to make sure my team is more focused on these issues and more connected to these corridors, I want to do it.

Uh and I think your office has been phenomenal in uh pushing us towards that, and and we appreciate it.

And so that's really what I'm looking for from you all because you're the ones that are boots on the ground, subject matter experts, the ones who are knocking on the door.

We're doing that as well.

But again, this is in my mind the the role of the folks who sit in that position to know that.

And I know we've been talking about this, and I know me personally, at least that along that corridor for at least three years.

This is probably the year number four.

And I'm told the same thing every year, top of brain, it's what I'm thinking about, what we're working on, but I I'm I'm still hearing the same response.

How do we get beyond just we're working on it?

Uh you any ideas you have, throw them our way.

Where it's now coming this way, because again, you are the guy, you're you're the team, you're D E G C and the expectation is that you would know and advise us on any policies that need to be changed, adjusted, um, and and amended.

And I'm not hearing that at all.

I I I literally what you just said just now, Mr.

Gray, no disrespect.

That's the same thing we said, you know, I heard uh from you last year, you know, and you know, the year before when we were here at the budget hearing and the year before that, but I'm not seeing that movement.

So that's where I'm internally frustrated, and I'm you know, trying to be presidential at this moment, but it's just frustrating to hear the same thing every year, and I'm hearing it yet again, knowing that this is top of brand.

We just had a conversation a few months ago, maybe a few weeks ago, and just haven't seen any movement, haven't heard any movement, haven't had gotten any provided any um uh assistance in that space.

Mr.

President.

Yes, sir.

Mr.

President, we're working with the mayor who is really committed to pushing retail in the corridors in the neighborhoods.

So we got some and I believe some really exciting things in the works that are coming down the line that will change what we had to say.

And I think in a year from now, we'll be laughing about this conversation.

So just I'm not laughing now.

No, no, no.

When I'm saying, but I don't know about it.

No, what I what I'm saying is I'm I'm not I don't mean to to take this lightly.

What I'm saying is we have a mayor now who is really focused on the neighborhoods and the corridors, no disrespect to any to any previous administration.

And I believe in my 40 years, because this June 9th will be 40 years that I've worked in public service, that I am I am encouraged that the direction that we're going, we're gonna see some movement in your corridors in the corridors throughout the neighborhoods.

Can I ask this question though?

So you just said you got the mayor and and the mayor is a former council member, our count former council president, so I think that is very important uh when it lends to the the um uh ideation as well as the execution of these uh items that are coming before us, but you all don't work direct for the mayor.

So I'm asking what why is it just the mayor that you're saying the mayor is is is is the one that's gonna give us the guidance, and it's now we have a mayor when I've been as council member, and we are the ones who approve this budget.

Mr.

Chair, we we've we've we've continuously uh work to move things in the corridors and move things in your neighborhood.

Unfortunately, unfortunately, investment is developer-driven.

And we're doing I'm asking Mr.

Hitt, I'm sorry to cut you off.

I uh but I'm saying even an inventory of the businesses, right?

We're talking about the inventory of the closed bit.

Why are they closed?

Is it that these is is it that these particular bit these particular not businesses, these uh biz buildings, these structures that could be businesses, why are they closed?

Is it that they are looking to charge too much rent?

Is it that just sitting on it waiting for a payday?

What is it?

I don't see a matrix, no any information that I've been asking for, and this again is another year.

I'm asking for that same thing.

I'm not been hold on, let me finish.

I'm sorry, don't cut you off.

Have not seen any of that up to this point.

I'm asking for it yet again, and I'm not hearing what the challenge is to get there because if there's a budget fix, we're here.

This is the time.

If it's a policy fix, here I am.

Here's the time.

But I have not heard that.

I'm just saying we're working on it, we're working on it.

Floor is yours, sir.

Um uh Mr.

Council President, I really appreciate your um um offer to allow us to um gather information, whether that be policy uh or and or um uh resources that are specifically um uh pull information regarding the corridor, bring that information to you, ask for the resources required to activate um the at least have information that could help us try to activate uh the corridor.

So what I would uh uh suggest, and I will lean in on my on on our team, is to do exactly that.

If there is a the buildings have been closed, why?

If what would it cost to reactivate them?

Give me that number.

Um are they charging too much rent?

Give me that number.

Is the market conditions in the corridor of uh significant to uh someone who would want to activate business on the corridor from uh AI perspective, if if that's the tool and give us that information, we will put that in front of you.

Um because you have asked me.

Uh and I appreciate your persistence, and I know that that's something that has been near and dear to everything and on multiple corridors and around the the city, but specific to that, uh, because what we're talking about uh is is the the vacancy of buildings and the lack of investment.

So we need to understand why that is.

You've asked me we've asked us for that.

We will provide that to you.

Do you have a timeline or any uh additional funding that's necessary to get there?

Well, what I want to do, I'm gonna reverse that.

I'm gonna find out exactly how what that information uh that is required cost uh and uh and I'll bring that to you.

I don't want to throw out a number that without back it back up with uh with with proper data.

I appreciate that.

We'll definitely need that before we um complete this budget because we need to know that as we enter into executive session colleagues and get a motion to place into executive session um a um database um analysis on uh structures along commercial corridors, not just in district one, because I think this is something that's necessary in all districts.

Um we can start in district one though, because I asked the other thing.

I'm absolutely starting in district one.

Um and along with partnering with with the the mayor's efforts around the neighborhood development team that she's assembled because that we have to run parallel to that, no question.

Absolutely, absolutely parallel, not just one way, but parallel parallel um and and that is all that should also include our legacy businesses, not just asking them to reach out to you and then sign up, but we have individuals who are in each district, they should be reaching out to them, building that relationship.

We should not be missing businesses that have been around 50, 60 plus years.

It shouldn't happen, shouldn't happen.

Um there's a is there a motion on the floor, colleagues?

I motion thank you so much.

There's a motion on the floor.

Uh seeing no objections that action shall be taken.

We'll get more, uh, we'll get that in writing uh to LPD as well.

My last question is also talked about a um uh construction mitigation fund being created.

We've got uh businesses uh where their uh operations are disrupted as a result of infrastructure projects, whether it be us or DTE or some other utility.

Um it is imperative once again for you all who are on the ground to tell us what's needed in terms of the funding, in terms of the frequency, in terms of all these things because of the relationship expected uh that is expected that your your team members have with those particular businesses.

Uh has there been any movement on uh construction mitigation fund for businesses where operations are uh disrupted as a result of um uh city infrastructure projects or other utilities?

Thank you for the question.

Uh so the uh possible emergency fund that is envisioned in the existing uh budget from the mayor uh would to some extent encompass that right now.

Uh but again that is envisioned at least right now as a loan, a a possibly forgivable uh loan or or low interest loan.

Um what we've typically done uh when people have been impacted, because I mean it's really unfortunate if we're pitching them on kind of a beautification of a corridor or a project that'll make corridor uh pop or be more easy to use, uh, and then due to closure of the corridor, they can't survive, it really is uh an unfortunate situation.

So we want to make sure to support them.

What we typically done is we've gone out when those situations rise up and done fundraising uh with partners such as Investor Trait uh or others, or we found kind of uh legacy uh project uh dollars to allocate to them on a really small dollar basis, where uh for one example, we had uh closure that impacted six specific businesses in a really uh for over six months, and we were able to allocate.

I think the grants ended up being somewhere between uh 2,000 and $3,600.

But you know, so taking over the term of that impact, not a lot of dollars.

Um absolutely open to having conversations about how to kind of grow opportunities to support people through infrastructure streetscape and other uh you know challenges to the course of daily business.

All right.

Thank you.

Uh colleagues get a motion to add to uh executive session a discussion regarding the A construction mitigation fund for businesses.

Again, this is different than emergency.

This isn't if we're causing the issue, we should not have someone have to pull out a loan and create more debt uh as a result of something that we're doing to improve the area.

So is there a motion, colleagues, please?

Thank you.

There's a motion on the floor, colleagues.

Any objections?

Seeing none, that action shall be with discussion.

Uh member Benson.

Um like to join you on that resolution for opposing.

Thank you.

Um there's some join it.

Uh member Benson, Member Callaway, Member Miller.

If we can um we'll put it in right.

Uh any objection, colleagues and why waters.

See no objections that action shall be taken.

Thank you so much.

We shall now go to member waters.

Okay, thank you.

And I'll be quick, Mr.

President.

First of all, I just want to say um thank you all for the work that you're doing with uh our young people next up 313 more specifically.

I appreciate that.

Um so within the current budget, is there funding specifically allocated for business support, particularly in the areas of coaching, technical assistance, and leadership development.

Technical assistance is there through our Motor City Match program, but leadership development.

Specifically in coaching that I would lean more to the coaching and maybe less to the leadership development specifically, Councilmember Waters.

That way there may be a parallel to the coaching piece, I think.

Well that that is uh a facet of the next sub 313 program, which is not um currently in the uh 27 uh proposal.

Uh-huh.

All right.

So then I I have uh I'm gonna make a motion, Mr.

President, to add to the executive session business support, particularly in the areas of coaching, technical assistance, and leadership development.

Uh I'll flesh it out later, but that's my motion.

Yes, ma'am.

There's a motion on the floor, colleagues.

Any objections?

See none, that action shall be taken.

All right.

So, in addition to funding, how many business support providers are currently based within the city and how are they being utilized?

Thank you for the question.

Uh so Detroit has a really interesting small business support ecosystem.

Uh just throughout my career, I started at the Small Business Development Center, which is a program of the SBA, uh, moved on to the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program, and then worked at the U.S.

Small Business Administration for years as well.

We have uh over 60 uh small business supporting entities across the city, uh accounting aid society, um, I mean, Tech Town has several projects within their uh remit.

We have dozens and dozens of these programs.

When people come from across the country to look at our ecosystem, they're really shocked at how many support programs that we have.

So a big part of what we do on our team is making sure that our business owners are aware of those programs and those opportunities.

Uh we have also uh, you know, U of M has their DNAP program where they really have folks who are uh in school who will focus on projects in Detroit neighborhoods and corridors uh and kind of layer in some of the U of M supports.

Wayne State, of course, has a number of supports through Tech Town and other initiatives.

So there are dozens of uh support programs.

Uh what we do is we try to work really closely with the New Economy Initiative and other teams that have rolled out uh tools recently, like the uh My Small Business Helper Initiative, whereby uh the trade-based business or business in the in the region really can go on to the My Small Business Helper tool and be directed to a program.

So we make sure that our uh nine programs are listed there.

Uh so folks are a part of the ecosystem, they're aware of what Motor City Match offers, they're aware of the Trade Legacy Business Program, they're aware of Nexus 313 and all of our other programs as well.

And so it's a very broad uh and robust ecosystem.

We try our best to be as integrated as possible.

Of course, it's really challenging to share certain information just due to the nature of non-disclosure agreements and MOUs, but we try to work as as closely as possible to make sure people aren't falling between the gaps.

All right, so could you send me a list of those businesses that are so supposed to be offering support?

And then I'll I'll have some more specific questions just in terms of what it is that they really do to support our businesses.

If that makes sense.

I will yes, ma'am.

I will follow up with an email.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Member Johnson.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair, and good morning on the verge of afternoon to all of you.

Um, most of my questions have been asked.

Um, I do want to say thank you for the continued support of the developer summit that we hosted in 2024 and look forward to hosting again this year.

Um it for me has been an opportunity um to share with black and brown developers in particular um the amenities and assets in district four and really encourage them to come to the district to do development um with also providing information on how how you do development in the city of Detroit.

So that's really been the focus of the summit.

Um it's been important for me to do that because a lot of people speak so negatively or have spoken negatively about the east side.

Um, and then when when they come to the east side, they see something altogether different.

Um, so I'm glad to see the uh projects that are happening in the district and look forward to just continued growth.

Um I do just want to delve a little deeper into the conversation about the relationship of the DBL and the businesses, particularly the small businesses that open as a result of the support they receive from Motor City Match.

Um I do think it's important.

I know Mr.

Gray, you said that a lot of the small businesses wait until maybe it's too late or it becomes even more difficult to provide assistance to them to address the issues that they have.

We lost our neighborhood grocery store.

Um and it was quite honestly a very simple issue that could have been addressed long before the grocery store closed.

Um and so can you just talk about the relationship that the DBLs have with notor city match recipients in particular in the district?

And I do want to say that Afton Malone is a district four resident.

Um she eats, sleeps, and breathes uh district four.

So I do know that I think last year I did ask about just making sure the DBLs had information, like some of them they have unique backgrounds and experiences, but if they are coming together and just making sure that they're sharing information so that they all have it and the small businesses throughout our communities can benefit from that.

Talk about um like their their real role and focus.

I know they intercede when um there's an issue with departments, but just developing relationships with those small business business owners, recognizing that they started with a dream, and they they have this passion to do this one thing or a multitude of things, but they don't necessarily have the business acumen to turn that into a brick and mortar business, which has already been said.

How are we helping to support that dream to sustain it?

Thank you uh so much for this question.

Uh if I may, uh Councilmember Johnson, we so Afton, I think does do a really great job, very personable, very uh I mean, really to your point, wakes up concerned about D4 businesses and plugs in with them in ways that I'm always impressed by when I ask her about uh what's going on with particular business, she's generally very well aware of what's going on.

Um, in terms of how our DBLs work closely with Motor City Match um uh awardees in particular, typically um we you know, we there we bring the DBLs more into the legacy business.

So so in terms of our grant structure, uh for some of Motor City Match awardees, they may not have a footprint or a lot of exposure to the business community in the in the corridor.

Uh sometimes they might be related to another business owner on a corridor, or they may be uh kind of putting feelers out and making relationships, but also off teller motor city match folks are a little earlier in in terms of that relationship.

But I will say for our legacy awardees, typically our DBLs then play a stronger role because we're talking about anchor uh businesses on corridors, and so they are more the tip of the spear in terms of reaching out to them, knocking on the door, helping explain the project to them.

Uh and the legacy, for example, is also kind of a teaching program where it gives us an opportunity for someone who's had a long simmering infrastructure or other issue that maybe isn't visible when you walk in the door, it surfaces it because now to get the dollars to that business, they have to be compliant.

Uh, and so the DBLs come into those conversations from recruiting through award uh and through those con those kind of very sensitive conversations.

Uh also the DBLs, uh, we've had uh DBLs who supported people who purchased properties from the land bank or even from private developers and supported them in reducing um you know uh unearthed later, you know, situations with water bills or uh older uh bills or older um enforcement actions that surface after the fact, we've had the DBL support uh business owners in kind of getting some of those adjudicated or waived uh or forgiven as well.

So the the situation that we're looking at in terms of the going forward basis of the DBL program is that we do want to, and I think this kind of resonates with the question you've asked now for two years, is how do we feel DBLs who have a depth of experience and can bring more than just kind of like, hey, I'm here and I hear you, but also maybe an understanding of real estate or an understanding of security issues.

And so I've absolutely had some conversations with uh you know the director of entrepreneurship and uh the chief of neighborhood and small business support uh at the city currently about how we make sure that the DBLs, when we go into communities, do we have a DBL who really has is locked in, for example, with DPD so they can understand hey, you know, when there's a shooting or when there's a situation that impacts a corridor, here's who I need to plug in with in terms of the uh the Detroit Police Department.

Here's how we're gonna uh move in relation to the situation.

And so we absolutely are looking at uh more closely at cross-training uh and kind of operationalizing the DBL team in ways that help them carry with them specific resources, specifically for some of the businesses that tend to come up a lot.

So, you know, child care, um, Barber and Beauty and food related businesses, but also uh trying to help them have better tools and resources around security.

I think we propose in years past kind of uh more DBLs or a specialty kind of DBL, but we're we are we are still working with the existing size and scale of the team to try to get them more cross-trained, so maybe they go into the field where you know Afton has those relationships and is the tip of the spear on the relationship in D4, but then we have another DBL who has a specialty area that they bring to bear where it's relevant as well.

Uh but we do work really closely through our green grocer program through Motor City Match through all of our programs to make sure the DBLs are well aware of what we do grants for, but also where uh you know, Mimi Pleedo who oversees the green grocer program has a number of resources and connections in grocery that could be beneficial to try to help, you know, I hate to say it, but kind of catch a falling knife when someone's in a bad situation.

Uh it's there are instances where it's really hard to get them to a good outcome uh when it's already when you know some of the things that tend the cascade have already begun.

But uh as always, we are open to support resources, uh, suggestions uh on how we can do that better.

Thank you.

Thank you for that.

And uh we understand how you get last minute requests because it happens to us on a on a regular basis as well.

Um I do believe that there's a solution.

We just have to know what the concern or the issue is and help connect our small businesses, particularly the smaller businesses that are coming through Motor City Match and probably looking or needing a little bit more technical assistance that member waters talked about than some of the others.

And I I love the alumni program where you're connecting them.

I'm just I'm really interested to see how that plays out because we know small businesses have probably a finite amount of time to do anything outside of their business.

So looking forward to hearing more information about that.

Um I also want to ask how do you all, when you're looking at Motor City Match applications and scoring them and ranking them and providing awarding the businesses with um different um whether it's financial resources or services, how does the the DEGC connect with P and D D or BC to ensure that these especially the businesses that have brick and mortars that they are following City Code that we've we've gotten planning studies or you know, we have the master plan that's being updated.

Is there a connection with what the community would like to see in their respective neighborhood and the business that is looking to open within the neighborhood?

Do you all make that connection?

Do you walk businesses through BC to making sure that they have a certificate of acceptance, certificate of compliance, whichever one it is, um, just to make sure that we're helping move them in the right direction and we don't have to we don't go backwards and then have to step in to provide that support later in the process because I've seen a business um in my district that I patronized, it was a restaurant.

They didn't have a certificate of compliance yet, but it was a motor city match recipient.

So if I may, thank you for the question.

We have in place now and have had for I believe the last several rounds of the program, so the last two years of the program, uh, a system whereby we check to make sure that people are wholly compliant and also applying in uh a proper a uh allowable usage for their zoning as well for the process they're proposing.

Um and so that's just that's bog standard now.

Uh the program has transited a number of you know sources of finance, and so we I feel like now we have our our these kind of our data ducts in a row a lot better than uh you know, maybe at some points, and and it's easier for us to point out uh, you know, where the dollars are flowing from, where they're going to our process for award and scoring, uh, we try to have not be kind of about who you know or any of those things.

So we absolutely are looking at is this an allowable use?

Is this a sufficient use based on um you know, you know, if you want to open a white tablecloth restaurant in in a heavily industrial area, we're gonna you know that's not gonna score very well.

So we absolutely are trying to uh make sure that the businesses that are proposed are synced up with what's growing or whether there's need on the corridors.

Uh we also, in some instances, so for our building track, for example, which is the track whereby we keep a list of available properties.

Uh when we do a retail study where we have outcomes from a retail study that show that there are certain priority nodes in the area, uh, we do have our DBLs or some of our motorcycle match team double click on and reach out to some of those building owners so that they can get into the track to make sure that those pro those parcels that are on priority nodes based on studies or based on planning and development uh proposals are being highlighted for people who are looking for spaces.

Uh but in terms of um developing or scoring uh you know an understanding based on um you know what they're proposing the use is we just try to make sure that they are compliant.

Uh we have had that, like I said, for the last several rounds.

Uh we've made sure that you you're not gonna move forward in our process at all if you're not properly zoned and compliant.

Um you know, in some instances we have had people who opened as a motor city match awardee go in or out of compliance, uh, and we try to support them to the extent that we can.

We don't currently have a pot of dollars to help get them the TA they might need to do it, but we do try to make sure that they have at least the relationship or connection to the person at the city who can help get them on the right track in terms of compliance.

But we absolutely uh you cannot have a motorcycle match award application move forward at this point if you're not properly zoned and compliant with the city.

So I appreciate that, and I heard you say earlier that you're not trying to push them to open up a business that you want them to open, but that they are interested in opening.

I do though also believe that sustainability uh is greater when they are going into an area where the community has said these are the types of businesses that we'd like to open.

So if there's any way to connect the planning studies, the um master plan work that's being done by the planning department, and maybe just sharing it with them so they see the types of businesses that the residents are interested in patronizing or they're saying that they need, I think that helps to sustain their business because now the business owner is feeling a need that the community has articulated.

So we'd love to see that connectivity happening.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Thank you, Member Sanchiago Romero.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Good afternoon, everyone.

I am going to quote Mr.

Gray in saying that you won't survive fighting your neighbors as just a very key thing in our work and developments.

Um excited that we're talking about how we support small businesses, um, and always thinking about that.

So I'm gonna focus my questions and comments about larger development projects.

Um the need to make sure that we are including community.

Uh there's a junction McGraw project in District 6.

Um, when it first uh uh laid out uh the idea for this project, um, it was set about that we're gonna have about three community meetings.

Our office asked for six, um, and this project is going to come to city council soon.

Um, but it is one that's um I believe residents believe will bring good jobs, which is what we need to ensure that we are helping um folks with their lives to really um gain economic success here.

Um, as things get more expensive, people need more money in their pockets, and as we build in the city, I want to make sure that we're including residents.

So thank you for doing that.

If we do that, I think we will be successful.

Um, in that um, as we're building, you mentioned clean energy development in the city of Detroit.

Um we do need jobs, we need good jobs.

And uh recently, City Council passed a resolution asking for moratorium on data centers.

And I'm now getting calls from concerns, uh, unions and and trade members around the limitations of jobs that that would cause.

Quite frankly, I don't think that's true.

Um, if you look around the city, there are plenty of construction sites.

There is plenty of work happening, and I believe there will be more.

So, my question is what are we doing to plan for green energy development?

Because quite frankly, I think we need to be ahead of the curve across the state.

People are fighting these data centers because of what it uses for their energy.

But it also does bring, as you know, our our our union members are asking for for jobs.

What are your plans um for developments for green energy developments?

Because I think we need to be faster than what's happening right now.

I do think that we can provide more jobs, more opportunities.

Uh, but quite frankly, I want to be in a city that is um at the forefront of developments and and deciding how we do this work and not necessarily be be pushed um or lobbied by DTE or consumer energy, which I know are are are behind a lot of these, a lot of these asks, um, especially when myself and residents are paying three to eight hundred dollars on DTE bills.

So that is my question.

Are we planning for this?

Can we plan for this?

I think we need to be working faster on uh on these issues.

Um I'm gonna I'm gonna have um I'm gonna have a few comments around the your your question, and I'll certainly have uh David White who uh is at the forefront of um our intake of of um inquiries relative to uh data centers that have looked at the city of Detroit specifically uh and what that means.

There's uh my comments are around this.

Uh there is a digital infrastructure in this country that has to be built.

Um it is an unavoidable circumstance.

I think you alluded to that.

Uh the question that we have and we have to answer is do you want that digital infrastructure when it's done in a clean and responsible way to have location opportunities in our city, or do we want to uh import that digital structure from somewhere else?

Um if in fact we can answer the in the affirmative that yes, in fact, the digital infrastructure, if done in a responsible way, that does not impact the citizens of our city from a cost perspective, that does not degrade our water infrastructure, uh, then we may have an opportunity to do something very unique in an urban setting.

And please understand these digital if this digital infrastructure is being built in urban sitter centers in our country.

They're not out, all of them aren't out in some 400-acre farm uh field.

But please don't that's what you're hearing about, but there are digital that that digital infrastructure is being built in urban centers.

The the second part of that is the environmental impact associated with data centers.

Uh for an example.

Um it costs use it uses more water to uh water a cornfield than it does to cool a data center.

Uh uh that that's that that's just from a top pure gallons of water.

You can you know that that's what you know now.

You can read something else that says, oh no, it doesn't.

It it costs multiple more millions of gallons to support a data center than it does uh a 200-acre cornfield.

It depends on what you believe, right?

But from a from a from a pure infrastructure perspective, we have to decide if a data center comes to our and to our doorstep, will it be done in a responsible environmentally effective way?

And I know that there are uh data centers that have done that in the right way.

Some haven't, some have.

So uh David.

Through the chair, thank you, council member, for the for the question.

We we are seeing data center uh data centers picking the tires uh on the city of Detroit currently.

I will say we are in the early stages of engaging with the mayor's office, CPC, planning department, et cetera.

EC around ensuring we are creating a uniform policy uh around data center attraction uh to ensure that we are stating what must be true for these data centers to to locate in in the city of Detroit.

So we are on the front end of those conversations.

I will say in terms of our pipeline, um, certainly uh many of the concerns about data centers are founded, especially when we're uh talking about the hyperscale data centers that we see in the news locating uh around Metro Detroit and sometimes in the state of Michigan.

What we're seeing in Detroit, um, largely because of our urban setting, because of the smaller scale uh sites that we have.

We certainly don't have the sites with one exception really that could even accommodate a hyperscale data center.

What we're seeing are what are called edge AI data centers, uh typically five, ten acres or so.

Umtimes they're utilizing closed loop water systems or utilizing uh renewable energy to power their facilities.

They're uh quite willing to invest in community benefits uh so long as uh they can have access to the power uh that they need and the power need is is often significantly lower.

You know, we're talking 10 to 30 megawatts, not much different than a typical uh high power manufacturing operation, uh, and a very small percentage of uh the power that's needed by a hyperscale data center, they often have their own electric infrastructure, they're paying their own rates, those rates are not being passed on to uh city of Detroit residents.

So I think there are opportunities to create a very thoughtful uh data center policy that focuses in on what we believe is the right data center typology for the city of Detroit.

I will also add, because these are often AI inference data centers that they often uh they create the AI ecosystem for autonomous vehicles, uh you know, advanced robotics, et cetera.

They those facilities actually need those data centers to be located near to them in order to operate.

So it does send a signal to the world, you know, that we're creating that AI ecosystem to help us attract those type of companies.

So there's certainly, you know, we need to have a thoughtful policy.

Um and lastly, I would add these data centers, five, ten fifteen acres, that the property tax impact is very significant compared to a typical advanced manufacturer.

Uh manufacturers do not pay personal property tax in Michigan, they are exempt.

Data center personal property, which is for one of these AI data centers, even a small one, 100 million plus is taxed.

And I think any thoughtful policy in the city of Detroit would uh would ensure we're not providing tax abatements uh on personal property for for these entities to look in the city.

So the the tax benefit is significant uh compared to a traditional manufacturer.

So I'll just end there.

I was saying like we are on the front end, we are thinking about this thoughtfully, and we're really looking forward to collaborating with council on and ensuring that um we're creating the right environment uh doing well by our residents uh and by the the AI ecosystem we're trying to create here.

Thank you.

Thank you, the chair.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Um, because quite frankly, there's a lot of information right now, and I think we need to take the time to be responsible to learn um and to do this right.

If there are opportunities, fine, let's take it.

But again, being responsible, making sure it works for us.

Um because quite frankly, I'm I'm not here to build infrastructure for AI.

I'm not here to build infrastructure for DTE.

DTE can invest in their own infrastructure to do this work.

Um, you know, you can eat corn, you can't eat AI.

So we gotta just really think about what this means as we're building it.

And I would like to actually, yes, have the conversation as of how we do this and make sure that we do it right.

Um, because if it's going to come, I I want us to be smart about that and would like to be included in these conversations.

Um so we can we can we can go ahead and do that.

Just want to end um by uh thanking Member McCampbell for really posing the question of what needs to be done for us to stop working so hard to get development here in the city of Detroit.

That's really what I heard.

Um, and as I've been saying, it's gonna take time, it's gonna take hard work of really changing our tax system and these structures, but I do believe it's possible for us to do so.

I believe it's possible to dissolve the DDA at one point.

We will we will not need it because we're gonna be doing so well here in the city of Detroit, but that's gonna take that's gonna take structural tax change.

That's gonna be hard.

But that is really what needs to happen here for us to be able to do major development that we want in the city.

One final question um to Mr.

Gray.

Uh, working with grocery stores, is it the there's a project that I'm sure you know of on Werner and Dragoon coming?

They're looking to get a grocery store there.

Are you talking with the developers?

Um, because I know that they're looking uh for partners trying to think of the uh exact site.

It sounds like a site that I'm aware of that I think previously was a um drugstore.

So through the chair, this would be the previous, it was going to be um an acienda sites.

Um it's that site, so just flagging that for you, that they are looking to bring in groceries and they're and they're having issues as we know why.

Uh so please we can connect afterwards because I do want to make sure that we bring a grocery store there.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

All right, thank you.

We've gone through the cycle of colleagues, but want to open up if there's any motions.

No comments, please.

Got a motion.

No, just motion.

Mr.

President.

I got to who has motions?

Right here.

One, two, all right.

So uh Member Miller, followed by Member Callaway, followed by Member Benson.

No, no, no.

No comment.

Just looking for motions because we still give a whole other committee.

Okay.

I'd like to make a motion uh that we utilize uh protection policy to protect our small business owners from corrupt B seed inspectors and um contractors that are recommended by the Motor City Match.

Um, and that we part partner our small businesses with our unions to provide labor for their contracting needs because a lot of business owners are being taken advantage of and are um having costly repairs coming out of what they are already not making um to keep their business afloat and they're taking many many losses.

There's a motion on the floor, colleagues, and I know we'll be placed uh also provide a uh written memo to back it up.

Any objections?

Seeing none, that action shall be taken.

Um Mr.

Whitaker.

Is that a is that a closing resolution statement?

I'd like to add it to the executive um session.

Thank you.

Uh member Callaway.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Can a motion go into closing mic?

Yeah.

Can um a motion that I'm about to make go into closing session and ex um closing resolution and executive session?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay, so this is for both.

Um it has to do with small businesses opening today, closing tomorrow.

Uh, we need a solid support plan.

So this is my motion.

I'd like to put the entire motor city match program into executive session and the closing resolution with respect to um it providing long-term support um to the small businesses that open.

Okay.

Okay, and then um before we go, yep.

That's it.

There's a motion on the floor, colleagues.

Any objections?

See none, that action shall be taken.

Member Callaway.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

And I don't know if it's if this is for DEGC, but I'll find out in a minute once I make the second motion.

The insurance um for businesses is skyrocketing.

I don't know if there's a program that you can offer to um our businesses, but a lot of them are suffering on um in district two because of insurance.

So I'd like to put um insurance um for businesses into the executive session and the closing resolution, which which I believe would prompt a further discussion.

So just insurance for all of our businesses across the city, small businesses who can't afford it.

We they can't afford it, um, into executive session and closing resolution.

That whole conversation.

Thank you.

There's a motion on the floor, and I know we'll go deeper into what that means during the discussion.

There's a motion on the floor, colleagues.

Any objections?

See none, that action shall be taken.

Member Benson?

Thank you.

Uh motion to add the closing resolution.

Uh urge uh advocacy to DEGC to support and actively participate in the writing of legislation, i.e., zoning text amendments to protect and provide rules of the road for data centers within the city of Detroit and listening to the conversation.

It sounds as if you may support the proposed moratorium, which will allow for the writing of those regulations within the next six months, hopefully.

There's a motion on the floor, colleagues.

Any objections that action shall be taken.

Thank you.

All right, that takes us to the end of our budget presentation for uh DEGC uh plus.

Give you an opportunity for closing remarks.

Brief, please.

Thank you very much for your time today.

We really appreciate the input and we will take it very, very seriously.

Thank you so much.

All right, thank you.

All right, again, that is the end of our budget hearing for DEGC Plus.

Um we now have the planning and development department.

Uh we've been waiting patiently in the back.

Y'all actually got here early, so sometime extra credit doesn't end up being extra credit.

But we thank you for being here.

Colleagues, I know we are very, very, very, very