In the bleak economic landscape of southeastern Michigan, a funder-backed effort, the New Economy Initiative (NEI) offers a ray of hope for Detroit. According to recent analysis by Pricewaterhousecoopers LLP and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, $96.2 million in grants since NEI’s inception have led to $2.9 billion in economic gains and 17,490 new jobs. Those are great numbers for a region that rarely gets positive news coverage for anything economic. It’s also a striking example of the leverage power of well-targeted philanthropic dollars.
Still, NEI faces a tough battle. Between 2000 and 2010, the initiative’s home region lost over 300,000 jobs, and while several neighborhoods of metro Detroit have seen some reinvestment, the situation is still dire. But a formidable coalition backs NEI. In our previous coverage, we discuss how the project got its start in 2007 as a coalition between ten funders committed to rejuvenating entrepreneurship throughout the rust belt, with an emphasis on the area around Detroit…
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