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On September 30th, Governor Whitmer announced that the U.S. Secretary of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) is awarding a $3.8 million CARES Act Recovery Assistance grant to the University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, Michigan, to construct the university’s new College of Innovation and Technology. This EDA grant, to be matched with $4.9 million in local funds, is expected to create 126 jobs, retain 175 jobs, and generate $10.4 million in private investment.

University of Michigan-Flint Chancellor Deba Dutta

“Thank you to the U.S. Economic Development Administration for their support for a new College of Innovation and Technology building at UM-Flint,” said University of Michigan-Flint Chancellor Deba Dutta. “This catalytic investment in support of innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology development will serve as the entryway for industry and community partners to advance economic growth in the region. We are grateful to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and other UM-Flint partners for their generous financial support of this transformational project. Our industry partners have been instrumental in the success of this proposal, and we continue to benefit from their shared vision and collaboration as we help prepare the Flint region and the state of Michigan with a workforce for Industry 4.0.”

This project is funded under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (Public Law 116-136), which provided EDA with $1.5 billion for economic assistance programs to help communities prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. EDA CARES Act Recovery Assistance, which is being administered under the authority of the bureau’s flexible Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) program, provides a wide range of financial assistance to eligible communities and regions as they respond to and recover from the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

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October 4-6, 2021

Cleveland, Ohio

Ashlee Breiner to present on October 5th at 2:00pm

Associate Director of the Economic Growth Institute, Ashlee Breitner

Women are constantly making decisions and are involved in decision making processes within their careers, their extra curricular activities and their personal lives. As a woman, do you ever feel like your voice is not always heard? Are the decisions made in your organization done so in an unbiased way that truly is in the best interest of all?

This presentation will teach you about a proven decision making process that drives consensus, removes unconscious bias, ensures acceptance and is transparent. Whether it’s a strategic plan, a committee’s fundraising plan or just everyday life decisions, our decisions are often not made in an equitable manner that will provide the optimal value.

The presentation will teach you the 5 steps in the Allovance Decision Making Method and walk you through a decision making simulation to show how this proven method helps decisions to be made in a way that helps to ensure equity for all who are involved in the process.

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The Michigan Institute for Data Science at the University of Michigan will partner with Microsoft and the city of Detroit to expand digital equality by improving broadband internet access and affordability in underserved areas across the Motor City.

As the first academic partner in Microsoft’s Airband Initiative to expand digital equality in metropolitan areas, MIDAS will assist with comprehensive data acquisition to improve data quality and the application of statistical and machine learning models to generate granular indicators of digital access needs.

“Partnering with MIDAS brings deep rigor to guide evidence-based policies, actions and learnings to address the digital divide in Detroit, grounded in an understanding of local context,” said Vickie Robinson, general manager of the Airband Initiative. “These insights will be very valuable as we seek to increase access to affordable broadband, low-cost devices, and digital skilling resources in Detroit, and potentially establish replicable data tools that can be adapted for other places.”

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