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The Romulus Burning Platform


A great example of a “burning platform” story that achieved sustained change was a year ago in the City of Romulus, Michigan. Romulus had been known for a long time as a corrupt and poor municipality in the metro Detroit area. At one point in the last 10 years, the mayor, several police officers and a bench judge were all indicted for bribery, racketeering and theft. Many of them are now in prison for these crimes and that didn’t bring much positive attention to the city. 

Fast-forward to the present and the new mayor of Romulus, LeRoy Burcroff. I had the pleasure of attending Mr. Burcroff’s State of City address last year and did he ever deliver. The event was well attended and by many of the regional leaders of Detroit, including legislators from the Michigan House. Mr. Burcroff was incredibly enthusiastic during his presentation by using excellent body language, gestures, emotions and visual aids on the projector. He pointed to and showed pictures of all the economic improvements that had occurred in the city, along with what that was doing for the residents in terms of job creation and increased commercial tax income. Mayor LeRoy Burcroff said that GM is one of the city’s biggest investors from an industrial employment standpoint and from a stability and jobs standpoint, it’s great that GM is investing in that facility (MENA Report, 2013, p. 1). He continued by highlighting the new $400 million Amazon Fulfillment Center that just opened last year. There were speeches by other members of the community, which included business leaders, clergymen and the legislators. You can achieve so much more when there is a burning platform (Dunne, 2013, p. 1). This was an all-out, over the top and very impressive evening filled with celebration but was also dosed in reality.

Mr. Burcroff knew he had everyone where he wanted them, which was excited and prepared to follow him into the next segment of the presentation that talked about where the City of Romulus would go from here. There was still a lot of hard work to be done and a lot of investments still to be made. The changes that Romulus was making was working, but Mr. Burcroff needed more commitments from the employees, businesses, stakeholders and friends. Sure enough, he got them by later announcing a grant from the State of Michigan that would help pay for improvements to the roads and infrastructure for more new development. He also said that the pay freezes and furloughs that were forced upon the employees of the city would soon be lifted, which was fantastic news to everyone.

Overall, under Mr. Burcroff’s leadership, he was able to get people to make the jump from the burning platform. No longer would overpromising and underdelivering be satisfactory in his city. The positive growth in Romulus has continued ever since.

References

Dunne, R. (2013, May 01). I know: 'you can achieve so much more when there is a burning platform'. Marketing, , 90. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1398195234?accountid=27203

United States: GM invests nearly $500 million its ROMULUS plant. (2013). MENA Report, Retrieved from http://ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/login?url=https://www-proquest-com.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/docview/1470193314?accountid=27203

 

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