Business, civic leaders debate ways to move Detroit beyond the usual
By Nancy Kaffer and Ryan Kelly
The financial stability agreement signed by the state and the city of Detroit has a laundry list of reform objectives designed to balance the city's budget and improve its service delivery. Where to start -- and how to flesh out some of the loosely defined goals -- was the subject of an event hosted last Monday by Crain's at Detroit's Max M. Fisher Music Center. About 150 members of Detroit's business, civic and grassroots communities attended the meeting, the first of a series. Marick Masters, professor of business and adjunct professor of political science at Wayne State University, participated on a panel during the program. "Money alone will not solve the problems," Masters said. In the automakers' restructuring, an important piece of the puzzle was a common vision uniting government, union and other community leaders for a desired outcome, Masters said. Stakeholders bought into the shared vision and remained accountable to executing the plan.
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