Building an Innovation Corridor for Michigan’s Economic Success

• Strategic collaboration across counties and sectors is essential to the Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor’s success. 
• Leaders must actively invest in tools, resources, and policies that foster new technologies and startups, rather than waiting for state-level directives or relying solely on existing strengths. 
• Michigan’s R1 universities already produce competitive research output, and the region has emerging innovation hubs. However, the missing piece is better coordination and a formal support system. 

On Oct. 31, Detroit Regional Chamber’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Sandy K. Baruah, and MichAuto Executive Director and the Chamber’s Chief Automotive and Innovation Officer, Glenn Stevens Jr., visited with the Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce to discuss the “Competing at Scale: The Case for a Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor” report and the progress of the initiative that was inspired by it.

Chris Kolb opens the conversation.

A partner in this work, Chris Kolb, the University of Michigan’s Vice President of Government Relations, opened the program, previewing how the Chamber and the University of Michigan came together to begin the Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor.

Spearheaded by Creative Class Group Founder Richard Florida, the “Competing at Scale” report highlights the need for a Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor, citing that the Detroit Region still has phenomenal strengths that it can leverage to once again be home to the world’s most technologically advanced manufacturing industries and a global leader in R&D and innovation.

“Competing at Scale” revealed that Detroit and Ann Arbor have all the ingredients to capitalize on breakthrough new technologies and companies because of the cities’ close geographical proximity and concentration of top education institutions.

Each city, and those along the corridor, has robust assets and strong ideas for development, which, when coordinated and optimized, can be much more impactful than the sum of its parts. It’s about creating shared awareness of these strengths and taking unified action to uplift the economy of the entire region and state.

The Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor would serve as a new model for high-tech-driven economic development, much like Silicon Valley, Boston, and now, Austin, Texas, have been.

“Our R1 universities produce about $3 billion in research … that’s actually very competitive with the leading research areas of the country,” Baruah said. “What’s common with all those really famous, growing technology regions is that they’re all anchored by flagship research universities, along with other key entities.”

Sandy K. Baruah and Glenn Stevens Jr. discuss the Detroit-Ann Arbor Innovation Corridor.

Since the Corridor’s introduction at the 2024 Mackinac Policy Conference, the Chamber has assembled a work group of approximately 20 leaders from R1 universities, businesses, and government, who meet regularly to align goals, share updates, and refine sector-specific projects. Furthermore, the Chamber is collaborating with Business Leaders For Michigan, a group dedicated to developing statewide policy aligned with the regional implementation efforts undertaken by the Chamber and its workgroup.

“When you Google it, we don’t come up as an emerging sector. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t,” Stevens said. “Really doubling and tripling down [on innovation in the area] is the goal of this corridor.”

Recent years have seen transformative developments, including the resurgence of Detroit and the emergence of innovation hubs such as Michigan Central and Newlab, as well as Wayne State University and Tech Town, and health innovation complexes led by Henry Ford Health and Michigan State University. While this is a relatively new development for the Detroit Region, it is just one step toward what other innovation hubs have had for decades.

“Hopefully, we’re at a point in the state’s history where we can continue to [invite innovation to the state] because we need jobs,” Stevens said. “We need more founders, we need way more tools … [and] game-changing things in place. This innovation industry has to be on the table, not on the menu.”

Even Ohio, a place much closer to home, has developed a formal system to support its own corridor by utilizing revenue from the state’s liquor business. This initiative provides now billions of dollars in direct investment to regional economic development organizations, allowing them to allocate resources for startups and innovation, help retain companies, and drive statewide competitiveness.

Scott Shireman, Mark de la Vergne, Paul Krutko, and Andy LaBarre closed the conversation.

However, for now, Baruah emphasized that leaders should not rely solely on state policies to get started. Instead, he encourages leaders across sectors and counties to continue connecting and collaborating to avoid duplication when it comes to innovation. As the 20-person work group begins executing its work, continuing this kind of collaboration, closer to home, is essential to making the Corridor work, mainly because of the boomeranging state and nationwide politics that have seemingly put innovation mostly on the back burner.

“It’s helpful that the state is a helpful player, but frankly, I don’t want to wait for the state to determine what to do,” Baruah said. “I think the way to approach this is: whatever is available for the state level to be supportive, provide resources, we’ll take it. But let’s not wait for it.”

Following this discussion, a panel on regional innovation featuring Scott Shireman, the University of Michigan Center for Innovation’s Inaugural Director, Mark de la Vergne, Michigan Central’s Economic Innovation and Policy Director, Paul Krutko, Ann Arbor SPARK’s President and Chief Executive Officer, and moderator Andy LaBarre, Ann Arbor-Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Vice President and Government Relations Director, closed the conversation.