Sure, no city is perfect. And Detroit has a long way to go in ensuring everyone benefits from the recent economic and cultural renaissance. But there’s no denying that the Motor City’s so-called ‘Great American Comeback‘ has been just that: great — so much so, in fact, that other U.S. cities are looking to mimic ‘the big D blueprint.’
According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, major Detroit supporter and financier Jamie Dimon and his firm JPMorgan Chase are now ‘applying the Detroit template’ to the Windy City.
Chase has invested $150 million in Detroit so far, even increasing its financial backing a mere five months ago (May 2017); and now, in an effort to reignite business and investment across the American Midwest, the big bank’s bringing its proven growth strategy to Chicago.
The Tribune on why it’s working in Detroit:
Chase does, we should stress, approach Detroit not as a mission of charity but as a carefully planned investment. A chunk of the money pledged to the city comes in the form of long-term loans that need to be repaid. And indeed, repayment of that money has already begun — of the $75 million in loans to Detroit, $7 million has been repaid faster than anticipated. That’s money that can be redeployed back into neighborhoods. Better still, so far no one has defaulted.
Needless to say, this is big news for both cities.
Continue to the full article to read more on why “the Detroit template” works.
