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Changing Gears
10:37 am
Fri November 19, 2010

Can Detroit use lessons from Pittsburgh? - Part 4

Detroit entreprenuer Judy Davids
Credit Sarah Hulett / Michigan Radio
Judy Davids launched her business PostEgram in Detroit with financial help from a business incubator.

All week we’ve been looking at the reinvention of Pittsburgh. Now, we move west to see whether the ideas that worked there can work in other places. One such city is Detroit.

Like Pittsburgh, Detroit has always faced a challenge in convincing its talented citizens to stay. Many business owners try to buck the odds and keep their businesses in the city, only to find the hurdles too high. Others find it is simply too daunting to head out on their own.

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GM IPO
5:10 pm
Thu November 18, 2010

GM IPO largest on record, taxpayers recover billions

The New York Stock Exchange
Credit Roland Weber / Creative Commons
GM Shares will start trading at $33 per share after the largest IPO on record.

Update: 5:10pm

The New York Stock Exchanged closed.  AFP News reports "GM stocks closed at 34.19 dollars, up 3.6 percent from GM's initial sale price announced on Wednesday, but below session highs of 35.60 dollars a share."

Update: 3:00pm

The Detroit News reports the GM executives who attended the opening day for GM stock on the New York Stock Exchange bought hundreds of shares in the company themselves.

GM North American chief Mark Reuss called it an emotional day, saying he was proud to work for GM and thanking taxpayers for giving GM "a second chance."

The News reports the GM execs will head back to Detroit "after today's events in order to attend a private employee celebration at the company's Renaissance Center headquarters."

Update: 11:04pm

GM  executives rang the bell and played a recording of a Chevy Camaro revving its engine to open trading at the New York Stock Exchange this morning. As of this writing, the stock, bought during the IPO at $33 per share, has jumped to $35 per share in trading. Here's how it's tracking next to Ford's stock (F): 

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Unemployment
7:21 am
Thu November 18, 2010

Michigan jobless rate continues to decline

Jobless
Credit Photo by Khalilshah/Flick

Michigan's jobless rate continued its slow, but steady, decline in October.  The state's unemployment rate in October was 12.8%.  It's the first time the jobless rate was been under 13% since March 2009, according to the Associated Press. The state's jobless rate in October of 2009 was 14.4%.

The national unemployment rate for October was 9.6%.

Municipal finance
9:42 pm
Wed November 17, 2010

Hamtramck asks state to file for bankruptcy

The city of Hamtramck says it will run out of money at the end of January, and officials have taken the unprecedented step of asking the state for permission to file for bankruptcy.


Bill Cooper is the city manager of Hamtramck. And he says he’s been a little surprised at the uproar his letter to the state has caused.


"That one little word got a lot of attention," Cooper said, sitting in his city hall office as the phone rang with a call from a reporter.


The word: Bankruptcy.

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Auto bailouts
5:15 pm
Wed November 17, 2010

"Successful Bankruptcies" - report says Detroit bailouts were worth it

GMC SUVs in a car lot
Credit user ep_jhu / Creative Commons
GM and Chrysler suffered through bankruptcy in large part because it relied so heavily on SUV sales.

The Center for Automotive Research released a report today that analyzed the government bailouts of General Motors and Chrysler.

$80 billion was given to the auto companies. To date $13.4 billion has been repaid.

Tomorrow the GM "initial public offering" is expected to raise another $22 billion.

The reports authors say that even if the government doesn't get all of the $80 billion back, the government's investment will still have been worth it.

The report concludes:

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Government Budget
4:51 pm
Wed November 17, 2010

Kent County budget calls for elimination of 56 full time positions

Kent County Board of Commissioners
Credit accesskent.com
Kent County Board of Commissioners

Thursday morning Kent County Commissioners are expected to adopt a budget for next year that eliminates 56 full time positions. The cuts are part of an overall plan to keep county spending in line as revenue from property taxes decline.

2010 is the first year taxable value has gone down in Kent County. That’s the value property taxes are based on. Money collected from property taxes make up a little more than half of the county's general fund.

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General Motors
4:14 pm
Wed November 17, 2010

GM IPO could break records

Timothy Geithner at the White House Correspondents Dinner in 2009
Credit Jay Tamboli / Creative Commons
U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has been the architect behind the GM IPO.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that GM's IPO tomorrow could be a biggy:

General Motors Co. said Wednesday that it will increase the size of its initial public offering by about 30% to 478 million shares, which could make it the largest global IPO in history.

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Michigan Economy
5:26 pm
Tue November 16, 2010

Michigan celebrates global entrepreneurship week

Global Entrepreneurship Week
Credit unleashingideas.org

In west Michigan several organizations are collaborating on more than a dozen events to foster the entrepreneurial spirit.

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