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Michigan Chronicle
Vol. 82 – No. 37 | May 22-28, 2019
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Douglass J. Diggs, Detroit Businessman and Small Business Advocate, dies at 55 By Patreice A. Massey MANAGING EDITOR
Detroit businessman and real estate developer Douglass Johnston Diggs died today from complications after suffering a massive stroke on May 16, 2019. He was 55. Diggs, President and CEO of the Diggs Group Heritage developed and implemented numerous economic development projects in the City of Detroit. The Diggs Group Heritage has negotiated over $760 million in development Douglass J. Diggs agreements and secured $22 million in project financing resulting in $71 million in new residential and commercial development. More important to him was the work he did to create workforce opportunities in the City. He loved Detroit and Detroiters and saw it as his mission to create opportunities for minority businesses to engage and thrive in the City’s growth. Diggs was the catalyst for a variety of programs to boost minority business development in the City including the Detroit Community Loan Fund, Michigan Statewide Minority Business Development Center and the Detroit Entrepreneurship Institute. Most recently, he was responsible for creating and implementing the Business and Workforce Participation and Outreach Plan for the Little Caesars Arena and The District Detroit to ensure that Detroit businesses and residents participate in the construction of the project. Throughout his career Diggs was focused on growing the economy of Detroit. He served as Detroit’s Planning and Development Director and was Director of Business and Economic Development for Detroit Renaissance. Diggs was born in Detroit in 1964 to Anna Diggs Taylor, the state’s first African American female federal judge, and Charles C. Diggs Jr., who became the first African American elected to Congress from Michigan. His stepfather, S. Martin Taylor, former head of New Detroit and later, Vice President at DTE Energy was a prominent figure in his adolescent and adult life. Diggs credits all of his parents for his work ethic and sense of civic responsibility that became his way of life. Diggs was a graduate of University of Detroit High School and Wayne State University. He also received his MBA from Davenport University. He served on the board or in an advisory capacity to a number of organizations including: the Democratic Municipal Officials, National Business League, Detroit Community Loan Fund, Venture Michigan Fund, Fifth Third Bank, Fannie Mae’s House Michigan Advisory
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Diggs page A5
Regional Cooperation Leads to
Economic Growth
By Trevor W. Coleman
Is there a new day in Michigan when it comes to regional cooperation and an appreciation of the need to promote metro Detroit’s mutual interests? Top leaders from the area seem to think so. This new attitude was reflected in answers to ques2019 MACKINAC POLICY CONFERENCE tions provided by the Michigan Chronicle to Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties’ officials, ahead of the Mackinac Policy Conference. For more than a quarter of a century, leaders of the largest counties in southeast Michigan have earned a well-deserved reputation for contentiousness despite the clear economic interdependence between them. The insults that flew between leaders from Oakland County such as County Executive Brooks Patterson and Wayne County leaders like the late Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young, are as legendary as they were painful. Indeed, long political careers were made from exploiting the irrational fears and prejudices of each community’s voters. And it wasn’t all that long-ago when Macomb County residents approved a referendum that literally changed the name of one of its most well-known cities; East Detroit, to Eastpointe. It was a deliberate affront to Detroiters, because Eastpointe residents did not
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want the rest of the country to think it was associated with the city. Nationwide, that county’s voters came to be known as so hostile to the hopes and ambitions of African Americans that its “conservative” Democratic voters were called “Reagan” Democrats explicitly because of their bigotry and willingness to vote against their own economic interests just to undermine the socio-economic progress of non-whites. African Americans in particular. It was a sad, bizarre, and bewildering spectacle for anyone outside the region. Most unfortunate of all, the ill will created such a toxic atmosphere of mistrust and hostility that while other major urban regions like Columbus, Atlanta, Seattle, Orlando, and elsewhere were growing by taking innovative approaches to regional cooperation, southeast Michigan was losing population; with its youth fleeing in droves, and social fabric tearing at the seams in large measure due the mendaciousness of its leaders. As late as 2014 Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson was quoted in an article in New Yorker Magazine as saying: “What we’re going to do is turn Detroit into an Indian reservation, where we herd all the Indians into the city, build a fence around it, and then throw in the blankets and corn.” Today, however, amidst new leadership, a resurgent economy and wide spread development throughout the region, a far different message of cooperation is being delivered. The leaders seem to now know if we
want to grow our economy, embracing the regions’ diversity and shared goals of prosperity must be a fact of life. Whether it is the county executive from Wayne, Oakland or Macomb County, or the mayor of Detroit, they know when traveling internationally to bring new business to Michigan, none of them cannot afford to have that business turned away or deflected to another state because they read about expressions of intolerance from leaders in the region, much less hate crimes being perpetrated by local residents. The fact is when companies in other countries or anywhere in the United States look up Michigan on the internet to search for articles about our business climate, these leaders know all too well we cannot afford for them to see these kinds of articles. What former Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm told a meeting of leaders at a Michigan Civil Rights Summit more than a decade ago, remains true even today: “If we want to create a more business friendly environment here in Michigan, there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to create an environment friendly to every investor and every resident who chooses to make their home here in Michigan. The demographics in America and Michigan are changing, we are becoming more diverse. The fact is, if Michigan does not embrace this coming diversity another state will.” It seems as if that message is now getting through.
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GROWTH page A4
Pnacakes & Politics – Forum III
Women in Leadership: Leverage Our Clout to Lead By Trevor W. Coleman
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The top three statewide political offices in Michigan are held by women, as is the U.S. Senate seat. And, the CEO of General Motors is also a woman. So, on the face of it, it would appear women in Michigan are more empowered collectively than perhaps anywhere else in the country. But things aren’t always what they appear to be said panelists on this month’s Michigan Chronicle’s Pancakes & Politics forum. At the event held Thursday at the Detroit Athletic Club, Kristy Fercho, executive VP and president of Mortgage, Flagstar Bank; Terri Kline, president and CEO, HAP; Portia Roberson, president and CEO, Focus Hope; and Tammy Carnrike, chief operating officer, Detroit Regional Chamber, engaged in a lively discussion before a packed room. Touching on the unique challenges confronting women in the workplace, they noted that merely because some women are in high profile positions in this state and elsewhere, it does not mean that most women everywhere else still struggle with issues of gender discrimination, the lack of represen-
tation and pay inequity. And, it is the responsibility of women in leadership positions to help other women succeed. Yet, at the same time, leveraging diversity is still a very big challenge even for
PHOTO: Cydni Elledge those who lead. Carnrike, chief operating officer for the Detroit Regional Chamber, called it a “spotlight” issue.
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& POLITICS page A5