Pilot program key partners and contributors:
- Flagstar Bank
- LightSpeed Technologies, Inc., a Nokia authorized reseller
- Chauncey Billups Foundation
- City of Inkster
- Motor City Leadership Council
- AuthorityHealth
- A. Philip Randolph Institute-Detroit chapter
- Festo
- City of Highland Park
- Muskegon Heights and Ypsilanti
- City of Inkster Police Department
Pilot program press event speakers and bios:
Chauncey Billups, NBA coach and former Detroit Pistons basketball player
Post NBA career, Chauncey turned his focus to business, coaching, and philanthropy. He currently serves as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. He is engaged in a variety of business ventures, and he and his wife, Piper, most recently launched a franchising initiative in Detroit with Salon Plaza. Chauncey enthusiastically supports several philanthropic causes through his foundation and other targeted programming.
Jason Dixon, Strategic Alliance Community Development Corporation CEO
Community activist and business professional Jason Dixon, a Michigan resident, is the founder of Strategic Alliance Community Development Corporation. Strategic Alliance CDC was founded in 2019 to combat the long-term effects of urban decay in a once vibrant and promising area of southeast Michigan that currently houses some of the most disenfranchised residents of the state.
Prior to starting Strategic Alliance CDC, Dixon was a serial entrepreneur. In 2015, Mr. Dixon incorporated his economic consulting and facilitation company, All Pro Case Management to address the socio-economic disparities in disenfranchised communities. His passion and commitment to the elevation of society as a whole, in particular, those who are the most vulnerable prompted Mr. Dixon to establish Strategic Alliance Community Development Corporation in 2019 to work in tangent with All Pro Case Management. His vision is to create vibrant resilient communities within the urban center of a metropolis through sustainable and economic development strategies.
Reggie Davis, Flagstar Bank executive vice president and president of Banking
Reginald E. Davis joined Flagstar Bank in 2020 and is responsible for all non-mortgage lending, Government Banking, Treasury Management, strategic alliances, and all of Retail Banking.
He has 35 years of banking experience, most recently with SunTrust, now Truist, where he was head of business banking. He also served as president of RBC Bank USA, the U.S. banking division of the Royal Bank of Canada, and as a senior executive and member of the operating committee for Wachovia (now Wells Fargo), where he held a number of senior roles. He started his banking career at First Union Bank.
Davis serves on the board of the Lincoln Financial Group and is a member of the 100 Black Men of Atlanta. Previously, he served as Chair of the Morehouse College Dean’s Advisory Board and a board member of the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce. His past recognitions include being named by Black Enterprise Magazine as one of the 75 most powerful African Americans in corporate America.
Keith Cooper, Merck & Co VP of Direct Material Operations and Capital Sourcing
Keith Cooper is the Vice President of Direct Material Operations and Capital Sourcing and Procurement for Merck & Co, Inc. His prior experience includes over 13 years of progressive global procurement leadership roles with Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, Shanghai, China and Bangkok, Thailand. In addition, he held procurement leadership roles with Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, and he began his career in procurement with Honda of America Manufacturing North America.
Jim Fasano, FIS Technologies, FTTx Program Developer
Jim has over 30 years of executive experience in areas of Communications Technologies including the development of business and product solutions, Strategic sales, and direct management of technology teams. Currently serving on two Boards of Directors and day-to-day management of Strategic Accounts.
Patrick Wimberley, Mayor of Inkster
Patrick is currently the property manager for Mich Ink llc. and Inkster fella Inc. Patrick has successfully worked for Starfish Family Services as the transportation supervisor for the Head Start program from 2000-2003 and as a commercial drivers’ license instructor from 2002-2005. Patrick became Director of Transportation for Inkster Public Schools in 2003 where he created and expanded school of choice transportation pick up and drop offs for over 3,000 students. He was later promoted to Director of Security and Building Maintenance. Patrick continued in that position until the closing of the school district in 2013. Patrick was the Co-founder and Chairman of the Board for Western Wayne Family Centers from 2005-2007. Patrick has held board positions for the following: Inkster zoning board of appeals from 2005-2007, Downtown Development authority (Treasurer) 2005-2008, Inkster elections board (Chairman), 2008-2012, and City of Inkster Tax increment board, 2011-2012.
After a successful political campaign, Patrick was elected Mayor Pro Tem 2008-2012 for the Inkster City Council. Patrick is a change agent, developer and community activist.
Rashida Tlaib, U.S. Representative, 13th district
Rashida Tlaib is a well-known progressive warrior and, in her own words, “a mother working for justice for all.” Rashida made history in 2008 by becoming the first Muslim woman to ever serve in the Michigan Legislature. She is beloved by residents for the transformative constituent services she provided, and for successfully fighting the billionaires and corporations that tried to pollute her district.
When billionaire slumlord Matty Moroun refused to follow the law and get polluting semi-trucks off neighborhood streets, Rashida organized residents with the We Have A Right To Breathe campaign and forced Moroun to fulfill his obligations to protecting public health. When large piles of black dust started showing up on the Detroit riverfront and blowing into homes and parks, and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality told residents everything was fine, Rashida collected samples and got the substance tested herself - exposing the cancer-causing “petroleum coke” as a threat, and getting it removed.
As an attorney at the Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, Rashida took the movement to the courts, fighting racist emergency managers, abusive state agencies, and leading the fight for community benefits agreements that promote equitable development. Rashida knows that effective advocacy requires an all-out approach, fighting in the community, in the legislature, and in the courts every day against injustice and inequality, so that every single person in this country has a chance to thrive.
Strategic Alliance Community Development Corporation background info:
- 501(c)(3) organization headquartered in Detroit, Michigan
- A sustainable community development organization and fiber optic service provider
- Route to a Smart City” initiative will bring 1G fiber to homes and 10G Fiber to businesses providing internet services in Inkster
Mission
- To (1) address the quality-of-life issues
- (2) create an expanded tax base through migrating subsidized renters to homeownership
- (3) assist in closing the digital divide via the installation of a vast Fiber Optic network and the city-wide free Wi-Fi Kiosks project
- (4) implement workforce training and development
Why Inkster?
- Uniquely positioned in ‘Smart City’ Connectivity Area
- Within a 15-mile radius of 10 Fortune 500 Companies
- Growing corporate need for high-speed connectivity
- Growing corporate need to create a more diverse and equitable workforce
- Limited budget and too small of a community to attract large-scale investment in infrastructure
- Lacking widespread internet services and connectivity needed for education and workforce training
Broadband deployment area and timing:
Pilot deployment:
- 39 Design Areas
- 6.2 Square Mile City
- Below Grade
- 11.5K Lots- 100% Pass Rate
- $1.5M Equipment Cost
- Timeline: 18 months
- Cost: $20 Million
Pilot project milestones:
- End of 2021:
- Breaking ground
- Training workforce development
- Early to mid-year 2022
- Laying cable
- Mid-year 2023
- Completing Inkster
National deployment goals:
Year 1: City of Inkster Pilot Project deployment, Detroit and surrounding cities
Year 1-2: Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia
Year 5: Regional deployment: Northeast, Midwest, and Southern Regions
Year 5-10: Full national deployment