DEARBORN — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing will be the keynote speaker at the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce Business Builders Breakfast, at 7:30 a.m. May 12 at Henry Ford Estate — Fair Lane.
Bing was a seven-time NBA all-star and played 12 seasons in the league. He is a businessman and last year was elected the 70th mayor of the city of Detroit.
He earlier had been elected mayor in a special election on May 5, 2008, to replace Kwame Kilpatrick and then won the full-term mayoral elected last November, defeating challenger Tom Barrow.
“We are thrilled to host Mayor Bing and feel that he will be a significant asset to this event,” said Chamber President Jennifer Knott Giering. “We know that he will provide valuable take-away information for the attendees.”
The event is sponsored by Oakwood Healthcare System.
Bing came to Detroit as the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft in 1966 and has lived in the area ever since, playing nine seasons for the Pistons. He held a job every off-season, either with the National Bank of Detroit or Chrysler. After retiring from basketball in 1978, Bing started his own business, the Bing Group, in 1980. A company that primarily manufactures auto parts, the Bing Group employs 500 people and has brought in as much as $300 million a year in revenue, Bing said.
“I think the old way of running the city has gotten us where we are,” Bing said. “It’s not going to work. Politics have led the city for a long time. I think it’s time for business to lead the city.”
The chamber’s newly named Business Builders Breakfast (formerly Economic Outlook Breakfast) in May is one of four such events planned for the year. Individual tickets are available ($30 for members, $35 for non-members) as well as corporate tables ($400) by going to www.dearbornchamber.org.