The chief of Detroit Public Schools says a $500.5 million, three-year capital improvement program resulted in a high percentage of contracts for city-based businesses and work for Detroit residents.
District emergency manager Roy Roberts said Wednesday that more than 60 percent of all subcontracts were awarded to businesses headquartered in Detroit and more than half of all worker hours were by city residents.
More than 200 Detroit students also were employed as part of a
summer work program.
The project has included construction of seven schools and renovations to nine others. It was funded by a 2009 voter-approved
bond issue.
Detroit's unemployment rate is among the highest in the nation.
Some estimates have pointed to at least one in four adults being
without jobs.
