Detroit mayor: City could use some federal help

Mayor Dave Bing hopes long-term solutions to Detroit's problems arise from the National Summit being held in the city, but said short-term financial help likely only will come from the federal government.

The pro basketball Hall-of-Famer and newly elected mayor said Tuesday that holding the conference on manufacturing, technology, energy and the environment in Detroit gives leaders from elsewhere a view from the front lines.

"The problem we're having in Detroit, today, is not just a Detroit problem," Bing later told The Associated Press. "It's not just a Michigan problem. It is a national problem and almost a global problem."

Bing said Detroit's people must understand what opportunities can come their way from President Barack Obama's administration.

"We're making sure that we scrub as much as we can, every opportunity to get federal funding into the city that will help us fill some of the gaps that we have," he said.

Detroit's unemployment rate is close to 25 percent and the city and state are near the top in home foreclosures. More jobs are expected to disappear as General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC downsize while going through bankruptcy and restructuring.

The founder of the Bing Group, which supplies steel products to the auto and other industries, said his focus is on job creation in Detroit.

"We've got to change the business environment here in the city so that we can encourage entrepreneurs to stay here and expand, or to come here," Bing said.