'It's all about leadership'.History was made at the Detroit Regional Chamber's 21st Leadership Policy Conference on Mackinac Island Mackinac Island Island in the Straits of Mackinac, southeastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan, U.S. It is 3 mi (5 km) long. It was an ancient Indian burial ground called Michilimackinac when the British built a fort there in 1780. After the U.S. . Shattering a 20-year stalemate, the region's top political leaders agreed to support the creation of a regional authority to develop a comprehensive public transit plan and fully coordinate the service and operations of city and suburban buses. The stunning announcement thrilled the 1,480 attendees at this year's conference. Although much work remains to be done, the Chamber-brokered deal sets the stage for developing the efficient, user-friendly transit system the Detroit Regional so desperately needs. The Chamber deserves credit for "jump-starting what could be the best hope left for improving mass transit in Metro Detroit," the Detroit Free Press The Detroit Free Press is the largest daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, USA. It is sometimes informally referred to as the "Freep". Some still refer to it locally as "The Friendly" -- a slogan from an ad campaign in the '70s. editorialized. Other conference developments: * The Chamber plans to establish a Transportation Hub Strategic Development Board to fashion a long-term plan to improve the region's diverse and complex transportation and logistics facilities into a seamless, integrated intermodal hub. * The Chamber, through its new Technology Action Group, will strive to unite the various technology groups across the region to develop a collaborative technology agenda to help power the economy in Southeast Michigan. * The Chamber will work with the Southeast Michigan Health and Hospital Council to convene a community-wide two-day meeting of stakeholders this fall to develop strategies to increase the number of health professionals in the region. The photos on these pages are just a few of the highlights of a three-day conference described over and over again as "the best ever." Chamber President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. Richard E. Blouse Jr. (above) and conference chairman Frank M. Hennessey (EMCO Ltd.) welcome conferees to the 21st Leadership Policy Conference at Mackinac Island's Grand Hotel. Blouse introduces the Chamber's new diversity partners -- the American Arab Chamber of Commerce, Booker T. Washington Business Association, Hispanic Business Alliance and National Association of Women Business Owners The National Association of Women's Business Owners (NAWBO) is an organization in the United States founded in 1975 that has the purpose of networking the approximately 10. . Colorful balloons descend from the ceiling of Grand Hotel's Theatre to mark the historic agreement on regional public transit. House Minority Leader Kwame Kilpatrick, D-Detroit, (below) and Speaker Rick Johnson, R-LeRoy, promise bipartisan support to get the enabling legislation through the Legislature by the end of the year. Panelists discuss the newly released report by the Chamber's Health Care Stakeholders Initiative. The report is the result of a call to action at last year's conference for a summit on such issues as spiraling costs, incentives, quality, financing and training. (l-r) Cleve Killingsworth Jr., president and CEO, Health Alliance Plan; Richard Nemesi, CEO, CareTech Solutions; Dorothy Deremo, president and CEO, Hospice of Michigan; William Largent, president, Dibaa Group; Dr. Arthur Porter, president and CEO, Detroit Medical Center The Detroit Medical Center is a Detroit-based non-profit corporation that owns and operates nine general and specialty hospitals in southeast Michigan. Detroit Medical Center hospitals include: "Can we do this job? Yes we can!" declares Dr. Kenneth S. Burnley (with Marygrove College President Glenda Price). But the CEO for the Detroit Public Schools Detroit Public Schools (DPS) is a school district that covers all of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The student population of the Detroit Public Schools is 116,800. cautions that much remains to be done in the critical area of student achievement despite significant gains in a short period of time. And he thanks the Chamber for both supporting -- and challenging -- him during his first year on the job. Outgoing Detroit Mayor Dennis Archer gets two standing ovations during the Big Four session. "In the eight years he's been mayor of the city of Detroit he has single-handedly brought civility to politics in Southeast Michigan," declares Oakland County Executive L Brooks Patterson in a moving tribute. (l-r) Macomb County Board of Commissioners Chairman John C. Hertel, Patterson, moderator Paul W. Smith Paul W. Smith is the morning drive-time host at Detroit, Michigan's WJR radio. As a clear channel on 760AM, WJR's broadcast can be heard throughout the Midwest and Smith's program is known throughout the region. of WJR WJR Woodcock Johnson-Revised Newsradio 760, Wayne County Executive Edward McNamara and Archer. Panelists discuss high-speed internet access, DSL DSL in full Digital Subscriber Line Broadband digital communications connection that operates over standard copper telephone wires. It requires a DSL modem, which splits transmissions into two frequency bands: the lower frequencies for voice (ordinary , broadband and other issues at a session on technology. (l-r) Moderator Mike Wendland, technology columnist, Detroit Free Press, with Jeffrey Sloan, founder and chairman, Digital Detroit; Joan Trusty, regional director, EDS (Electronic Data Systems, Plano, TX, www.eds.com) Founded in 1962 by H. Ross Perot (independent candidate for the President of the U.S. in 1992), EDS is the largest outsourcing and data processing services organization in the country. Global Government Affairs; Wayne State University Wayne State University, at Detroit, Mich.; state supported; coeducational; established 1956 as a successor to Wayne Univ. (formed 1934 by a merger of five city colleges). President Dr. Irvin D. Reid; Josie Marie Griffith, CIO CIO: see American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations. (Chief Information Officer) The executive officer in charge of information processing in an organization. , University of Michigan (body, education) University of Michigan - A large cosmopolitan university in the Midwest USA. Over 50000 students are enrolled at the University of Michigan's three campuses. The students come from 50 states and over 100 foreign countries. ; and Jeff Mason, senior vice president, public affairs, Michigan Economic Development Corp. The Chamber has created a Technology Action Group to develop a collaborative agenda for Southeast Michigan. Visit the Detroiter online at www.detroitchamber.com for more details and a list of TAG members. "We're trying to 'Web-ify' state government, if you will," declares Gov. John Engler (shown here speaking to reporters) in an update to conferees on the multi-faceted "e-Michigan" program. He notes that the Michigan Department of Career Development is offering dozens of online high-tech and IT training courses for small businesses through contracts with NETg and Skillsoft. "How is the company doing? So far, so good," says DaimlerChrysler Corp. President and CEO Dieter Zetsche in a concise summary of his company's ongoing turnaround campaign. Zetsche says the Chrysler Group is on track to break even next year and show satisfying profits in 2003 by aggressively cutting costs without sacrificing product quality. Richard Anderson, CEO of NWA NWA Northwest Airlines (ICAO code) NWA Northwest Arkansas NWA National Wrestling Alliance NWA National Weather Association NWA National Works Agency (Jamaica) NWA Network Analyzer Inc. and its principal subsidiary, Northwest Airlines, updates conferees on the $1.2-billion midfield terminal project at Wayne County Detroit Metropolitan Airport, scheduled to open later this year. The new terminal will have 97 gates, 80 shops and restaurants and 106 ticketing positions plus a new access road and an 11,500-space parking deck. Edsel B. Ford Jr., chairman of Detroit 300, toasts Detroit's 300th birthday. It's a bona fide [Latin, In good faith.] Honest; genuine; actual; authentic; acting without the intention of defrauding. A bona fide purchaser is one who purchases property for a valuable consideration that is inducement for entering into a contract and without suspicion of being birth day bash complete with a round of "Happy Birthday to You" and even a birthday cake. Businesses should partner with the state to create the best public education system in the world, says Thomas D. Watkins Jr., Michigan's new superintendent of public instruction. Watkins also encourages the business community to participate in an "executive on loan" program at the State Education Department or local school district level. |
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