A LOSING BID BUT NOT A WASTED EFFORT

Amazon process clearly illustrates importance of technology to our future

“We loved it!”

That was Amazon employee Holly Sullivan’s verdict on the unique, two-country DetroitWindsor bid for the company’s second North American headquarters.

“They thought it gave them lots of flexibility and opportunity,” Mayor Drew Dilkens said, including access to global talent because of Canada’s more welcoming immigration laws.

But Detroit and Windsor don’t have enough talent, Sullivan told the two cities Thursday, citing concern about education and retaining and attracting technology graduates. It was a frank assessment, and we need to listen.

Ontario graduates 40,000 students a year in science, technology engineering and math, or STEM, second only to Massachusetts in North America. The province has committed to graduating 25 per cent more, or 50,000. That would be the highest in North America. The government is also spending $30 million to increase the number of graduates with artificial intelligence master’s degrees to 1,000 a year.

Ontario has the biggest cluster of information and computer technology companies in North America after Silicon Valley.

But Windsor’s public schools score below average on provincial tests, and our rate of postsecondary education is lower. Despite our advanced manufacturing, our tech sector lags the province. We have 3,200 people employed in tech jobs. That’s 2.6 per cent of the workforce — compared to 5.3 per cent provincewide.

We’re starting to get it. Sixtyfive students are enrolled in a STEM academy that opened at Holy Names High School in September.

The program includes a robotics class. University of Windsor and St. Clair College faculty and students are guest instructors and mentors. The idea is to spark interest in STEM.

Enrolment in STEM programs at the university and college has also jumped. The university’s computer science school has tripled in size since 2012. Both the university and college are working with organizations like TechTown, an incubator and accelerator in Detroit. Michigan tech companies are also opening offices here.

We need to develop our tech talent not only for bids for the tech sector but to save our role in the auto industry.

A key recommendation in the report by Ray Tanguay, former Toyota Canada chairman and auto adviser to Ontario and Canada, is to ensure we have the talent needed for the increasingly high-tech industry. He cited programs like FIRST Robotics for kids.

Eighty-three per cent of students in it go on to study STEM. He also cited technology incubators and accelerators like Waterloo’s Communitech.

“We’re trying to prepare ourselves,” he said at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week.

Sullivan also cited lack of public transit. Windsor is upgrading its fleet and increasing the frequency of some routes. Our buses now travel to LaSalle, and Amherstburg is interested in service. But we don’t have regional transit. We don’t even have a commitment to regional transit. Tecumseh chose its own bus. Lakeshore explored then rejected service. Leamington wouldn’t commit to it even for this bid.

“We really need to get serious about regional transit,” Dilkens said.

Sullivan also cited quality of life, from the arts to cycling.

Windsor is also starting to understand the value of its rich history, distinct neighbourhoods and unique assets like Peche Island. Finally, it will contribute $250,000 to the Windsor International Film Festival. Will the active transportation master plan recommend protected bike lanes?

“We’re on the path,” Dilkens said.

What did Windsor do right this time? What can we do better? These are the questions now.

Partnering with Detroit, a city that knows how to reinvent itself, one of the most talked about cities in the U.S., and Dan Gilbert, a chief architect of Detroit’s comeback, who knows how to make things happen, was the smartest part of this bid. It offered the best of two different countries. It was unique and creative. The proposal for a gondola across the river showed we can “think big,” like Amazon asked.

This should be, as Dilkens said, “just the start of the conversation.”

If Windsor wants to win next time, it will learn from this bid.

It was a losing bid, but it was invaluable. It showed us what it takes.