Freep’s Tom Walsh ponders when GM, Chrysler will re-engage community. So do we

Now that General Motors and Chrysler are back on their feet, recovering rather nicely and producing autos and making money, Detroit Free Press columnist wonders when the corporations will re-engage the community at large. Good question, we say. We’ve got your back, Tom.

Excerpt:

OK, but will GM resume its huge role in Detroit? The kind that led the massive Detroit riverfront makeover a few years ago? We don’t know. Chrysler, too, is a mystery nowadays, after having long been a major benefactor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and a host of other causes. Even when Daimler owned Chrysler, CEO Dieter Zetsche took an active role in civic affairs, chairing the board of the Detroit Economic Club, just as Bill Ford does now.

None of this is meant to be critical of GM, Chrysler or their CEOs. The companies have been through hell; their futures remain uncertain. The world has changed and for Detroit and Michigan, that means corporate leadership must come from different places.

Read the entire piece here.