Posted on 04/23/12 by Trevor F. Lauer

Vice President, Marketing and Renewables
DTE Energy

Italy and Innovation?

I have just returned from a trip to Turin, Italy as a guest of the Kresge Foundation and the German Marshall Fund to study innovation in another city that’s suffered from the changing auto industry.  A little background on Turin, Italy if you are not familiar: It’s the home town of Fiat (yes, the company that purchased and now controls Chrysler) and was home to the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Posted on 04/16/12 by David O. Egner

Executive Director, New Economy Initiative for Southeast Michigan
and President and CEO, Hudson-Webber Foundation

 

What Turin, Italy, Has that Detroit Needs

I have just returned with a group of Detroiters from a trip to Turin, Italy as guest of a Kresge Foundation-funded German Marshall Fund study on innovation.  Much has been written about the similarities of Turin and Detroit.  Both cities benefited from wildly successful automotive sectors for many years, and both cities suffered through the recent decline in manufacturing and the pain of a changing auto industry.  However, while the Detroit region is seeing new economic gain from a leaner, meaner Detroit three, Turin's manufacturing workforce is likely to cap at under&nbs