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Friday, October 22, 2010

By DIANA DILLABER MURRAY
Of The Oakland Press

PONTIAC - Education will be the key and engine of economic redevelopment of the City of Pontiac and surrounding areas, according to a panel that included state Rep. Tim Melton and the mayors of Pontiac and Southfield.

The panel on "Reviving Pontiac through Education and Economic Development" was pulled together by the Pontiac Regional Chamber of Commerce for its annual event Thursday at the Lafayette Grande in downtown Pontiac.

Data provided by Melton and other panelists indicated communities, such as Rochester Hills and Ann Arbor, where a higher percentage of residents have a college education, tend to have a lower unemployment rate and a higher median income. Communities such as Pontiac, Flint and Detroit, however, where the level of education is not as high, tend to have a higher rate of unemployment and lower income.

In addition, more educated residents are more able to start their own businesses and provide jobs for others in the community, some said.

Melton urged that everyone, city, school and business people come together to create goals for what type of business they want to attract and what kind of education students will need to fill those jobs.

"Part of the problem is determining what the goals are. We say jobs - what jobs? If we don't set a path of where we want to go, it won't happen," Melton said.

"We need to figure out what our assets are and where we want to be in 10 years. We've got the tools," he said, pointing out the city has three hospitals, vacant manufacturing plants and a film industry for starters.

"We need to team up with colleges and universities," to ensure students are prepared for those jobs, he said.

WWJ-AM (950)'s Matt Roush was moderator of the panel. Besides Melton, D-Auburn Hills, Pontiac Mayor Leon Jukowski and Southfield Mayor Brenda Lawrence, candidate for lieutenant governor; the panel included Jeff Love, president of Baker College of Auburn Hills; Henry Tanaka, dean of academic and student services at OCC Auburn Hills Campus; Deborah Vargas, administrator of Pontiac Board of Education services representing board President Caroll Turpin; Pontiac Councilman Lee Jones; and Maureen Krauss, director of Oakland County economic development and community affairs.

Krauss said she travels the world to attract new business to Oakland County and people from other countries are impressed to hear students are introduced to new technologies at a very early age.

She said parents should be on the Internet learning about emerging technologies to help their children prepare for them. In an aside, she jokingly noted that the children will help their parents use the technology to do the research.

Vargas said new Superintendent Thomas Maridada II and the Pontiac Board of Education have begun several initiatives and are revamping the curriculum with several universities and colleges, to ensure students are prepared for a higher education.

Jukowski suggested many young people might be more successful in a vocational program than going to college.

"If you have a business here, find a kid, bring him in and teach him how to do your business," the mayor urged the chamber members and guests.

Jones cited a few city programs geared to help create more jobs for residents and he suggested that more faith-based nonprofits should open their doors and use their facilities to "help children toward their goals."

Love and Melton talked about the Pontiac Promise Zone Authority that will soon be ready to provide scholarships to guarantee free college tuition to any student who lives within the boundaries of the Pontiac school district, no matter income or what school the child attends.

The Promise funding will make up any difference between financial aid and the cost of tuition.

Contact staff writer Diana Dillaber Murray at 248-745-4638 or diana.dillaber@oakpress.com.