CBS News Detroit
Dec. 2, 2022
Amid seismic technology shifts sweeping the region, new opportunities for jobs and companies are being created which was discussed by four leaders appearing on CBS Detroit’s “Michigan Matters” who share insights into what it will take to help more folks be better positioned to take advantage of them.
JoAnn Chavez, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, DTE Energy; with Michigan Matters Host Carol Cain
JoAnn Chávez, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at DTE Energy, talked with Carol Cain, Senior Producer/Host, how the company is helping more people in the region through programs like the Detroit Tree Equity Partnership it is involved with along with Detroit Future City, American Forest, Greening of Detroit and others. Their goal: plant 75,000 trees over a five-year period in the Motor City to help the environment and create jobs through planting of trees.
DTE also has its Tree Trimming Academy, which has helped create jobs and addressed the growing need for trees to be maintained to avoid issues like downed power lines during storms by overgrown trees.
JoAnn Chavez, Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, DTE Energy; with Michigan Matters Host Carol Cain
She also talked about the Road to Restoration collaborative they are working on, along with the state of Michigan and non-profits, to help people who have had their licenses revoked for minor infractions get them back. A change in state law allows 350,000 Michiganders currently impacted, to have an opportunity to have them restored. The collaborative is holding educational sessions to raise awareness.
Dug Song, Founder and President of The Song Foundation; Carla Walker-Miller, Founder and CEO of Miller-Walker Energy; and Glenn Stevens Jr., Executive Director of MICHauto & Vice President of Automotive and Mobility Initiatives at the Detroit Regional Chamber; with Michigan Matters Host Carol Cain
Then, the roundtable of Glenn Stevens Jr., Executive Director of MICHauto & Vice President of Automotive and Mobility Initiatives at the Detroit Regional Chamber, Carla Walker-Miller, Founder and CEO of Miller-Walker Energy, and Dug Song, Founder and President of The Song Foundation, appear with Cain to talk about helping more people prepare for jobs and also spur more start-up companies.
The three leaders will appear with others at the All-Star lineup of speakers appearing at the 2022 MICHauto Summit: Accelerating Our Tech-Talent Future event held this Thursday in Detroit.
Stevens talked about President Joe Biden’s visit to Michigan on Tuesday where he visited SK Siltron’s facility in Bay City where the company makes semiconductor wafers for microchips and electric vehicles.
Biden was last in Michigan during the Detroit Auto Show in September.
The panel also talked about equity and inclusion in the EV and mobility space and how the region was doing.