Bill Ford Jr. Named Crain’s Newsmaker of the Year
Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. has been named Crain’s Newsmaker of the Year by Crain’s Detroit Business. Integral to Ford Jr. winning the award was his visible role in the acquisition of Michigan Central Station, which will serve as the centerpiece of Ford’s upcoming Corktown campus. Ford intends for its $740-million campus project to be a major pull as it seeks to acquire new and rising talent and develop new technologies, including those related to autonomous driving and electrification.
“When we develop this Corktown campus, there will be nothing else like it in the country,” Ford Jr. told Crain’s. “Silicon Valley is literally spending billions to create these campuses — and they’re lovely, some of them. There’s nothing that will have not only the historic value and the coolness factor of Corktown, but frankly the practical application of creating an (autonomous vehicle) corridor from Detroit all the way out to (Ann Arbor).”
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Crain’s notes the similarities between Ford Jr. and his uncle Henry Ford II, who sought to revitalize Detroit in the 1970s with the creation of the Renaissance Center. The project earned Ford a 30-year, $240 million tax break from Detroit, and the initial phase of rehabilitation on Michigan Central Station is currently underway.
Ford Jr. is also the namesake of the Bill Ford Better World Challenge, which doled out $450,000 in grants last year. He was also essential in defending the automaker’s April announcement that it would discontinue all four-door sedans and hatchbacks and focus instead on a revitalized lineup with more space for crossovers, SUVs, and pickup trucks.
“The underpinnings are still the same, it’s just that we’re giving more practicality to what’s built on the underpinning,” Ford said. “And if for some reason tastes were to change back (to sedans), we could respond to that.”
Bill Ford Jr. has been chairman for 20 years and a part of the company for 40 years.
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