• What would be the impact of the loss of the Auto Show or GM to
  downtown Detroit?
• What tools do we have to attract businesses to the city?
• What is the status of the M1-Rail project?

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Ann Lang
President & CEO
Downtown Detroit Partnership

Ann Lang is President & CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership (DDP), a private/public partnership of corporate and civic leaders including Board representation from Detroit 300, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Detroit Renaissance, Detroit Riverfront Conservancy and the Mayor’s Office. DDP’s stewardship role for downtown covers strategic and physical planning, public space maintenance, research and marketing. Its principal programs for 2007 are the NEXT DETROIT: Clean Downtown initiative and the Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.

Lang previously served as Executive Director of CEOs for Cities, a national alliance of mayors, corporate executives, university presidents, and foundation and nonprofit leaders, established to advance the economic competitiveness of cities.

Prior to joining CEOs, Lang was President & CEO of Pikes Peak United Way where she led the organization’s turnaround and re-established its focus as a catalyst for community change in the Colorado Springs region.

In Detroit, as President of the New Center Council, Inc., she participated in revitalization of the 60-block New Center area surrounding General Motors headquarters.

Lang was the first woman to chair the International Downtown Association of 450 downtown development professionals from 250 cities in the U.S. and Canada. She earned a MBA from the University of Denver and a BA in Communications from Wayne State University.

George Jackson
President & CEO
Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC)
Chief Development Officer
City of Detroit

George W. Jackson, Jr. became interim President & CEO of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) in February, 2002, and was elected to the position on a permanent basis in April 2002. The DEGC is a private, nonprofit corporation devoted exclusively to supporting Detroit’s economic development projects and initiatives by providing technical, financial and development assistance to the City and the business community. The DEGC also serves as the professional and administrative staff for the Downtown Development Authority (DDA), the Economic Development Corporation of the City of Detroit (EDC), Tax Increment Finance Authority, and Detroit Brownfield Redevelopment Authority (DBRA). The DEGC is the lead organization for implementation of permanent revitalization improvements (the Lower Woodward Improvement Program) for Superbowl XL, held in Detroit on February 5, 2006.

In 2006 Mr. Jackson assumed the responsibilities of Chief Development Officer for the City of Detroit. This position includes the responsibility of overall coordination of City economic development activity, as well as supervision of the City Planning and Development, and Environmental Affairs Departments.

Mr. Jackson is also the past Chairman and serves as a Board member of the NextEnergy Corporation, a corporation committed to making Michigan a world leader in alternative energy by advancing the use of alternative energy through groundbreaking research, design, manufacturing, education, commercialization and the marketing of alternative technologies.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Jackson was Director of Customer Marketing for DTE Energy, where he worked for 27 years. Areas reporting to the Director of Customer Marketing include Economic Development, Strategic Marketing Processes, Product Development, Program Management, Customer Research and Information and Ethnic Marketing. Under Mr. Jackson’s leadership the DTE Energy Economic Development Department gained national recognition and was a recipient of the Site Selection Magazine Utility Economic Development Award. Mr. Jackson has also played an influential role in City of Detroit, Southeastern Michigan and State of Michigan economic development programs, projects, initiatives and organizations.

Additional experience includes Personnel and Human Resources with the United States Navy, Adjunct faculty at Lawrence Technological University School of Management, and professional level positions at Detroit Edison in the Human Resources, Organizational Planning and Development and Power Generation organizations.

George W. Jackson, Jr. is a native Detroiter, and a graduate of Detroit Cooley High School, Oakland University (B.S. Human Resource Development) and Central Michigan University (M.A. Management – Business Management).

Audio File: 

R2R June 2009.mp3