Hold the phone. The industrial might of Metro Detroit is not extinct. In fact, a new vibrancy might be taking place under your radar screen.
Yesterday, I had toured the W Industries facility at 8 Mile & Hoover in Detroit (or “The D” as it’s known to locals). W industries is a full service steel fabrication company that is doing a great deal of defense contract work for the United States Military. They make the “Cougar” Mine Protected Armored Patrol Vehicle, among other things.
Walking through the W Industries plant was an experience in and of itself. Inside the plant, welders were feverishly attaching metal to metal, forklifts were madly buzzing around and chunks of metal were hung from lifts and stacked as high as the ceiling. It felt as though I walked through a time warp to find myself in 1943 Detroit.
In 1943, Detroit was at the pinnacle of it’s industrial might. The “war machine” was in high gear and was the envy of the world. The ability of the Detroit manufacturing facilities to re-tool and launch mass production of goods for the World War II effort was nothing short of extraordinary (think of the Willow Run bomber plant that produced 1 bomber per hour at it’s peak). The allied victory in World War II was in large part due to the production war machine that was Detroit manufacturing.
If I jump back into the time warp back to April 2008, the remnants of the the “war machine” are hard to spot. Empty factories and abandoned warehouses dot the Metro Detroit landscape. To the outsider, it appears as though the phrase “last one out turn off the lights” has been uttered and the fat lady is wailing away and her shrieks are cracking the last of the intact windows. It seems as though anyone thinking of investing in real estate in the Metro Detroit area is insane (”the economics just don’t make sense” I have been told countless times) and anyone thinking of starting a company is equally crazy.
But…there are smoldering embers of hope. W Industries is one of these embers. Capitalizing on opportunities and taking big risks are what separates the wheat from the chaff in business. When entrepreneurs, like those at W Industries, galvanize themselves toward a mission there is no stopping them. I think this is true for YOU as well - if you galvanize yourself toward a mission and a strong sense of purpose, nothing can stop you.
If you ever doubt that entrepreneurs have the ability to turn things around on the strength of their will alone, take a look at W Industries or, your local version of W Industries (the company started in 1981 - another ‘inopportune’ time of high interest rates and unemployment). This is why I am convinced that contrarian entrepreneurs and investors that can stay the course will be rewarded over the long term - this is something I take to the bank every day.
Start looking for the sparks, the smoldering embers, the smell of money being made and the doors of opportunity cracking open - just enough for you to stick your foot in.
