May 22, 2009 Detroit: GMAC to receive $7.5bn state aid

Article published by the BBC.

GMAC to receive $7.5bn state aid

The US Treasury is to give finance group GMAC $7.5bn (£4.7bn) in further state aid, to help it offer loans to potential Chrysler and GM car buyers. GMAC, which is part-owned by General Motors, failed to meet the government's "stress test" and the Treasury ordered it to raise $11.5bn in extra capital. But the firm failed to raise money privately as bad debt has risen, leading to quarterly losses of $675m.

This is the second time the government has intervened to help GMAC. In December, the government stepped in with a $6bn bail-out of the firm. While GM is trying to stave off bankruptcy protection, Chrysler has already filed for bankruptcy. Analysts argue that the move would provide both car firms with a lead over competitors, by offering more attractive loan terms to would-be buyers.

Bank firm

The group is one of the 19 lenders that were subject to US government "stress tests" to assess the company's health. But GMAC Financial Services has seen its losses increase, as the economic downturn has dented consumer spending. The loss in the first quarter was 15% greater than in the same period a year earlier, when it reached $589m.

The Detroit-based lender also became a bank holding company, called Ally Bank, in order to receive the emergency government funds. The Federal Reserve has now waived rules, permitting GMAC's bank more scope to provide loans.

GMAC will be able to keep lending to GM dealers and customers, which would usually not be allowed, since GMAC is a bank holding firm part owned by GM.

MAYOR BING ANNOUNCES MEMBERS OF HIS CABINET AND CRISIS TURNAROUND TEAM

Source of press release the City of Detroit news release:

MAYOR BING ANNOUNCES MEMBERS OF HIS CABINET AND CRISIS TURNAROUND TEAM

5/13/2009
Detroit News

In keeping with his campaign promise, Mayor Dave Bing announced members of his Cabinet and Crisis Turnaround Teams today during a press conference in the Mayor’s Office. This is the first of several press briefings that the Mayor intends to hold to keep the citizens of Detroit informed on his turnaround process. Mayor Bing introduced six members of his Cabinet and nearly 30 members of his Crisis Turnaround team.

“I look forward to working with each of these professionals as we begin to put the city back on the right track both fiscally and operationally,” said Mayor Bing.

Mayor Bing is offering a different approach to managing the City, utilizing the Group Executive approach. The Group Executive have expertise within their given fields and will manage several clustered key departments. Group Executives will report directly to Mayor Bing and will be held accountable for the overall success of each department within their group. Group Executives include: George Jackson, Economic Development; Darchelle Strickland-Love, Health and Human Services; Saul Green, Public Safety; Norman White, Finance; Bob Warfield, Communications; Charles Beckham, Chief Administrative Officer; and Sue Carnell, Mayor’s Office. Additionally, Mayor Bing intends to fill one remaining Group Executive position, which is Operations.

Mayor Bing feels this is the least disruptive management approach while maintaining the delivery of quality City services, while he and his Crisis Turnaround Team evaluate the fiscal stability of the City.

Mayor Bing’s Crisis Turnaround Team is comprised of nearly 30 volunteers, including retired and senior executives, who are contributing their time and expertise to review, evaluate and develop recommendations for improving the City’s fiscal status. Team Co-Chairs are Denise Illitch, Freman Hendrix and Joseph Walsh. Turnaround team members will work in the areas of finance/budget, human resources, legal and stimulus management. Their names and short bios are included in the attached document. Members of the team will volunteer their time and resources for the next 100 days.

For more information on Mayor Bing’s Cabinet as well as the Crisis Turnaround Team, please contact the Mayor’s Office at (313) 224-3400.


Source of following article is The Michigan Development Corporation:

George W. Jackson, Jr.

President and CEO, Detroit Economic Growth Corporation
Chief Development Officer, City of Detroit, 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 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.

Jackson also is 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, 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 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. Jackson also has 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.

Jackson 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).

Ford

General Motors

Chrysler

Detroit 1807 city map

Souce of picture Wikipedia and text.
Washington Boulevard Historic District is a multi-block area of downtown Detroit, Michigan. It is bounded by Washington Boulevard between State and Clifford streets. In 1982, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It includes the Book-Cadillac Hotel, the Book Tower, the Industrial-Stevens Apartments, and Washington Square (Trolley Plaza) among other architecturally significant buildings. The Detroit Statler Hotel was located on the boulevard until it was demolished in 2005. Washington Boulevard was one of the large boulevards in Augustus Woodward's plan of 1807.

The street was broadened and ornamented in the early part of the twentieth century. The development was inspired by the City Beautiful movement and financed by J. Burgess Book Jr. and designed by Louis Kamper. It was to resemble New York's Fifth Avenue and European boulevards. A sculpture lined park between two one-way streets decorated a shopping district and upscale residential neighborhood. Edward H. Bennett, a well known master planner, turned Washington Boulevard into a Beaux-Arts streetscape. More buildings were planned, but not built because of the Great Depression.

From the Detroit News archives come the following picture and text:

The crown jewel in Detroit's skyline

The Book Cadillac Hotel, at right, constructed during the Detroit building boom, helped transform Washington Boulevard into a fashionable rival to New York's Fifth Ave.

And two random postcards found in the web.

Detroit 1936

Detroit skyline view at night

Source: Wikipedia

Background city of Detroit and its metropolitan area

Excerpt from Wikipedia about Detroit:

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, many of the city's Gilded Age mansions and buildings arose. Detroit was referred to as the Paris of the West for its architecture, and for Washington Boulevard, recently electrified by Thomas Edison.^[19] Strategically located along the Great Lakes waterway, Detroit emerged as a transportation hub. The city had grown steadily from the 1830s with the rise of shipping, shipbuilding, and manufacturing industries. In 1896, a thriving carriage trade prompted Henry Ford to build his first automobile in a rented workshop on Mack Avenue. In 1904 he founded the Ford Motor Company. Ford's manufacturing—and those of automotive pioneers William C. Durant, the Dodge brothers, Packard, and Walter Chrysler—reinforced Detroit's status as the world's automotive capital; it also served to encourage truck manufacturers such as Rapid and Grabowsky.^[19]

and on Detroit metropolitan area:

The Detroit metropolitan area, often referred to as Metro Detroit, is the metropolitan area located in Southeast Michigan centered on the city of Detroit. As the home of the "Big Three" American automakers (General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler), it is the world's traditional automotive center and a key pillar of the U.S. economy.^[2][3][4]