Drawing from experiences in three different careers, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing said teamwork is the key to success in a speech Wednesday at Syracuse University.

Reflecting on his varied life experiences in sports, business and politics, Bing emphasized the value of entrepreneurship, leadership and responsibility during a speech at the seventh annual Whitman Day. A 1966 SU alumnus, Bing spoke to a full auditorium of students, faculty and administrators for about an hour in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management’s Lender Auditorium.

“Coming back here brings back a lot of really good memories,” Bing said. “Orange still runs in my blood.”

After graduating from SU with an economics degree, Bing was the second pick in the NBA Draft, earning a rookie of the year award for the 1966-67 season as a Detroit Piston.

Looking to buy a house for his young family, Bing sought out a mortgage from the National Bank of Detroit, but he was denied for lack of credit history and played for the underachieving Pistons. But a year after winning the award, Bing was offered a job by the same bank that turned him down. For seven offseasons, Bing worked for the National Bank of Detroit.

“It was a tremendous learning experience for me because I could take what I learned here academically into the real world,” Bing said. “Understanding the things that an everyday person had to go through was a real good experience for me.”

Bing wanted to be an entrepreneur, he said, but knew upon retiring from the NBA that he was not ready for that challenge. Bing went to a two-year training program with a steel company to learn how to run his own business.

“I wasn’t sure if I was ready to start my own company, but the timing was right,” Bing said. “There’s a lot of things that go into being a successful entrepreneur, and if you miss the timing, you miss the opportunity. I didn’t want to miss it.”

In 1980, Bing started an automotive-manufacturing business with four people. The Bing Group would eventually staff 900 people, with gross sales of more than $400 million.

“Teamwork is the most important thing I learned in sports,” Bing said. “I was able to take that concept into the business community because I knew I didn’t know everything. As an entrepreneur you try do everything — you wear all the hats in the beginning.”

But without a background in engineering or operations, Bing could not do it alone. He said he wanted to find the best employees to build his business and was unafraid of being outshined.

After 29 years of running the business, Bing passed the reigns to his daughters.

With Detroit facing political corruption and economic instability, Bing spent almost a year debating whether to run for mayor. Ex-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick resigned in September 2008 after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice, according to The New York Times. He served a four-month prison sentence from October to February 2008.

In October 2008, Bing announced he would run for mayor. On May 5, he was elected to serve the remainder of Kilpatrick’s term and was re-elected to a full term Nov. 3. Bing said he is not receiving a salary as mayor.

“My job is to bring this city back,” he said.

Bing said he works hard to change the culture of city government and make Detroit more small business-friendly. He described the challenges facing the Motor City to his audience: a $325 million deficit and more than 70,000 vacant houses in 140 square miles, only half inhabited.

Bing outlined a plan to revitalize the city government by improving what he called antiquated services and dysfunctional city departments. He expressed common interests between the cities of Detroit and Syracuse, including revival of troubled economies and improvements in quality of life for people.

“I believe wholeheartedly that what we are missing today in this country is entrepreneurs,” he said. “This country was built on the back of small businesses. Somehow, we need to get back to that.”

When the Q-and-A segment began, Gary Stefanski, a senior finance major, asked Bing about his plans to level vacant homes, referring to Syracuse’s problem with vacant homes.

“He’s got a tough job ahead of him,” Stefanski said. “Making incentives is going to be tough, but a lot of people will benefit.”

Audience members clapped and laughed at Bing’s jokes and stories and said they enjoyed the speech for its positive tones.

“Dave is extraordinarily inspirational to students,” Chancellor Nancy Cantor said. “He’s conceptualizing problems as opportunities for success. There are so many similarities, on a different scale, between Detroit and Syracuse.”

 

Published on April 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm