I attended a conference this week put on by Automation Alley, a technology business association located in Oakland County, Michigan. The conference attracted many types of businesses, including commercial lenders and brokers, and was one of the reasons I attended as a representative of Stewart Title.
One of the keynote speakers of the event was Tim Bryan of GalaxE Solutions, an IT services company. Mr. Bryan spoke about "outsourcing to Detroit", a phrase I found amusing, especially when considered with Chrysler's "imported from Detroit" campaign. As a Michigan resident, Detroit doesn't seem foreign to me! But what Mr. Bryan expounded upon was the hidden opportunities in the metro-Detroit region- how the combination of a willing, talented workforce along with the region's resources make for a great corporate location. Indeed, the number of technical workers (IT, software, social media, etc.) working in the metro-Detroit area now exceeds the number in Silicon Valley!
Listening to Mr. Bryan, I was reminded of a book my children read in elementary school called The City of Ember by Jeanne Duprau. The father of one of the main characters tells him, "Notice what no one else notices, and then you'll know what no one else knows." How true! And how applicable to Detroit's comeback. Companies like GalaxE are moving in ahead of the curve because they're not paying attention to the negative sterotypes about Detroit. They're noticing "what no one else notices..." They're seeing that our peninsula is surrounded by the second-largest source of fresh water on the planet, that Detroit has easy access to Canada, that the state has one of the best university systems in the country and that Michigan is flush with lakes, woods, rivers, golf courses, shopping, sports teams and other resources and amenities.
So, notice Detroit and Michigan! Then you'll know this is a great place to live, a great place to locate a business- and a great place to invest in real property!
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