Bill Ford To Students: "Stay In Michigan"

by Jeff Gilbert
WWJ AutoBeat Reporter

Interview: Jeff Gilbert talks with Bill Ford about keeping young people in Michgian.

(Ann Arbor, WWJ) The key to Michigan's future, says Bill Ford, is keeping educated young people from seeking greener pastures elsewhere, and he brought that message to business students at the University of Michigan.

"We need you," Ford said at a conference on revitalizing Detroit. "The region needs you, and frankly our companies need you."

Ford says his toughest job is attracting people from outside to locate in the Detroit area. But, he adds that once they arrive here, and see what it's like, they don't want to leave.

New technology, Ford says, makes the auto industry an exciting, compelling industry for young people. That technology ranges from advances in communications to advances in fuel economy.

"It's not yesterday's technology," said the executive chairman from the company that bears his family name. "It's tomorrow's technology. There's nothing going on in Silicon Valley or anywhere else that's more advanced than what's going on right here."

Ford will be hiring seven thousand people over the next two years, many of them in salaried positions. Some will be working on electric vehicles. Ford says those vehicles won't sell in big numbers now, but are a glimpse into the future.

"I think it's a great opportunity for us to stop losing our best and brightest to Wall Street. I'm sick of that."

Young people who are looking to change the world, Ford says, should take a serious look at manufacturing.

"If you want to really contribute and you want to make something real, and you want to create wealth and, not siphon it off," he said. "Most importantly, if you want to make a difference in helping redefine a clean world and a world that we can all be proud of, than this is the place you ought to stay."

Ford praised both Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and Michigan's new Governor Rick Snyder. The Ford chairman was an early supporter of Snyder and worked closely with Bing, who used to own an auto supply company. Ford saying neither man has a personal agenda, and both are in their jobs to try to help forge Michigan's future.

And while some are concerned about Detroit's image as the "Motor City," Ford says that can remain a positive.

"I don't think we should walk away from it," he said. It's a very powerful thing. But it needs to be redefined, and we're in the process of doing it."

Follow Jeff Gilbert on Twitter @jefferygilbert