Bill Ford, Michigan Central, and Attracting
High-tech Talent
Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford has always looked ahead. From his early focus on sustainability to his famed trips to Silicon Valley as he saw the industry changing – that same relentless focus on the future brought him to Michigan Central.
With it came a vision to turn the symbolic building into a tech and cultural hub that will attract and retain talent now and long into the future – the same type of talent that’s needed to usher in a new era for the automotive industry, Ford Motor Co., and the region it calls home.
“I’m focusing on setting the company up for future generations,” Ford told The Detroit News. His goal is to ensure Ford as an automotive and mobility company “stands for something beyond profits” with values that make the world a better place.
Photo credit: Jason Keen
For Ford, renovating Michigan Central had to go beyond preserving the façade. It had to attract employees and entrepreneurs who see Michigan’s potential. Like his great-grandfather Henry who helped put the world on wheels, Bill Ford had a vision for change and Michigan Central.
The early success tells the story: Michigan Central, who chose Newlab as its partner to help jumpstart the innovation hub, opened Newlab at Michigan Central in April 2023 with 25 initial startups. Today there are more than 150 startups in the overall ecosystem, with 40% of these companies relocating to Michigan to be part of Michigan Central, and when you add in the networked companies and VCs, there are nearly 240 companies there today.
“It had to be the place where the future of transportation was reinvented one more time and that the Motor City became the the Motor City again,” Ford told Crain’s Detroit Business. “You show them this. Then you say, ‘This is where not only can you work but where you can help invent the future.’ I think this will be a huge help to us in terms of the war for talent.”
OptimizeEV Founder and Chief Executive Officer Brittany McGee sees Ford’s vision and embraces it. The Detroit native worked as a real estate investor in the Corktown area before starting her business, and she said watching Michigan Central come back to life as a “super community” of change makers was what got her to personally invest her time and talent there.
“We’re coming up from the dust to leader on the innovation front in term of the mobility industry,” McGee said. “That is why I wanted to be involved. It’s super unique to be positioned as a startup among founders, seasoned leaders and investors. … I don’t think there is any other city I’d want to build in.”
It’s a sentiment shared by the next generation of Fords, including Alexandra Ford English who serves on Ford’s board of directors.
“I just want to go where the work is interesting and I can make an impact,” Ford English told Crain’s Detroit Business when she was selected for its 40 Under 40 in 2024.
In that vein, Michigan Central represents a place where people can have a real role in transformative technology, said Glenn Stevens Jr., executive director of automotive, mobility and technology association MichAuto.
“Newlab and Michigan Central are at the forefront of our transition from an industry that started more than 100 years ago – automotive is part of our DNA and our culture– but also has to change with the times to put us in position as leaders in areas of next-generation mobility, AI, machine learning and automation,” Stevens said.
