Together We Must Stand for the Future We Want

I had the opportunity, as I've had in past years, to attend the Regional Chamber of Commerce's Mackinac Conference in the beginning of the June. We heard some great ideas from many distinguished people who attended. But, as I reflect on the future of The Townsend and the Birmingham community, a few ideas really stand out.

We heard from Gov. Rick Snyder, Geoffrey Canada, President and CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone, Inc, Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, and Michael Porter, CEO of Think Detroit PAL, who is considered the world’s leading authority on strategy focusing on competitiveness and economic development.

While each individual’s message was unique, they all had one common theme: we control our future. We can choose to be the best we can be, we can choose to work for the common good and we can choose to work together to achieve these goals. No one said the journey to achieving excellence would be easy, but they all said the choices were simple.

So, how do I take these learnings and apply them to and the Birmingham community?

We as a whole — The Townsend, the city, the businesses and residential community — have endured the worst recession in anyone's memory. Through some good leadership and some good luck, we now have the opportunity to shape our future and reach for the extraordinary not the ordinary. We should seize this opportunity to establish a new and better vision for a future with not just good government but the best government, not just good education but the best education and the best home to a business community.

I would encourage residents, business leaders and public officials to work collaboratively to shape their communities to be extraordinary not just good. I  know the journey to achieve excellence will be a challenge, but I also know the results will be worth every effort.

This article was contributed by Peter Wilde, managing director of The Townsend Hotel in Birmingham, MI.