Business digest: Detroit to receive federal grants (Washington Post)

Washington Post
(9/26/2013 1:36 AM, Washington Post)

Detroit to receive federal grants

The U.S. government directed more than $100 million in grants Thursday to help bankrupt Detroit tear down vacant buildings and spur job growth, but the help falls far short of the wider bailout that some city leaders had sought.

Gene Sperling, chief economic adviser to President Obama, said the administration scrounged through the federal budget and found untapped money that “either had not flowed or had not gotten out or not directed to the top priorities for Detroit.”

On Friday, Sperling will join three other top Obama aides in Detroit — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. The closed meeting also will include city and state leaders and the emergency manager leading Detroit through the largest U.S. municipal bankruptcy.

The Obama administration repeatedly has signaled it won’t offer a massive bailout like the one credited with helping to rescue Chrysler and General Motors.

The funding announced by Sperling will include $65 million in Community Development Block Grants for blight eradication, $25 million in a public-private collaboration for commercial building demolition and nearly $11 million to ensure working families can live in safe neighborhoods.

Holder will announce $3 million that, in part, will be used to hire new police officers. About $25 million also will be expedited to Detroit to hire about 140 firefighters and buy new gear.