Motown – old and new

On a visit to Detroit this week I saw several old and new aspects of this ever evolving area

First a dinner with two friends who work for Silicon Valley companies but chose to relocate to this part of the world for the quality of life. Appropriately opposite a town square and park in Plymouth which is Americana at its best.

Next a visit with Plex Systems, which is a provider of cloud manufacturing solutions to many companies in the auto industry (among others). Plex’s HQ in Troy has all kinds of street art which adorn its conference rooms.

Jason Blessing, CEO of Plex, proudly showed off his Shinola watch.  Shinola, one of several new local startups, proudly says “ We’re starting with the reinvigoration of a storied American brand, and a storied American city.”

Time with executives of Inteva Products, a supplier of panoramic roofs and door panels you see in a number of Mercedes and other cars. They explained how their Adrian plant, an hour sw of Detroit is now one of the most profitable in the world. That’s saying something because they have plants in China, East Europe and other low cost locations.

Then a dinner at a restaurant in Birmingham, which has been a town of choice for generations of auto industry executives.

Finally, the tunnel at Detroit airport with 9,000 feet of color changing LEDs. Impressive that the Philips Color Kinetics solution has lasted for over a decade with no lamp or fixture replacements.

Photo Credits - Plymouth, Mercedes, DTW Airport

Comments

[Kimberly Baker]

We were honored to have you in Metro Detroit. Thank you for the positive press.