Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says the city must expand development in its downtown to its neighborhoods. Duggan used his annual State of the City address Tuesday to push for increasing job opportunities for all Detroiters
From community activists to credit ratings agencies, critics complain that Detroit’s post-bankruptcy boom is leaving some neighborhoods behind. But Duggan says any Detroiter who stayed in the city during its toughest times deserves first crack at a good job.
The Mayor praised a deal in the works with Fiat Chrysler which he says would deliver the motherlode of middle class jobs to the city.
But Duggan says investing in skilled trade - in particular, i9s - is key to erasing Detroit’s high poverty rate.
"These jobs are real. There are 6,654 jobs available today that we don’t have Detroiters with the skills to match. Those are in the city. We’re trying to fill those jobs. And we want to reach out to everyone to give them a chance."
Duggan noted plans are being finalized for a new union apprenticeship facility in Detroit…and says he wants the City Council to add four-and-a-half million dollars to existing job training programs.