Those who are unemployed in Detroit or those who are interested in finding something that pays more money might find the new Innovation District helpful. This is a plan to create more jobs while encouraging small businesses to hire more people at the same time. Its implementation will be headed by the chief executive officer of the Henry Ford Medical System.
The Innovation District will span 4.3 miles and will be located in an area where over half of the jobs in the city are already located. However, the area only comprises 3.1 percent of Detroit’s total landmass. There are no definitive land boundaries, but they are in the planning stages, and an announcement will come soon as to where the district will be so that businesses can get involved. Officials working on the project do know that the district will include most of the Downtown area and reach to I-75. A recent report sparked the idea for the district as the report stated that cities with the innovation districts have better communication of ideas. These districts can also support the economies of larger cities.
Successes have been seen in both Boston and Atlanta. The chairwoman of the district believes that benefits will be quickly seen. One of the goals of the district is to create neighborhood communications with businesses and residents. Another goal is to get new businesses to set up in Detroit by working with real estate transactions and finances.
The business planning approach should examine both the efforts of small and large businesses. Incentives could work to get larger businesses in the area that can help to expand the district to other parts of the city.
Source: Crain’s Detroit Business, “Detroit launches Innovation District to spur job growth“, Natalie Broda, June 12, 2014
