2017 First Federal Economic Outlook Presentation

On February 21, 2017, people gathered at the Lenawee County Country Club for the First Federal Economic Outlook presentation. This presentation focused on the expected economic forecast of Lenawee County. The keynote speaker for this event was Robert Morgan, an economist from ProBank Austin. Tim Robinson, Director of Operation for Lenawee Now and Jim Van Doren, Executive Director at Lenawee Now, followed Morgan with a presentation about Lenawee County’s economy. John Bartoszewicz, who is the Executive Director at the Adrian Area Chamber, followed with a discussion focused on Lenawee communities.

 

Robert Morgan kicked off the presentation by looking at the spending trends and numbers from past years.

 

“There were about six different efforts by the federal reserve over the last seven or eight years to get consumption spending up by pumping cash into the system. And the problem was that consumers particularly, used that increase in cash not for consumption purposes, but they increased savings and paid down debt,” said Morgan.

 

Morgan is optimistic about seeing consumer spending increase in 2017. His optimism is generated from the increase in government spending, as well as the overall plateau of economic growth throughout the past years.

 

Van Doren and Robinson followed up with a discussion on Lenawee County’s recent talent cultivation, entrepreneurial culture, and successful business expansions and start-ups. They stressed that talent training is one of their top priorities for 2017. They also addressed a list of partners associated with Lenawee Now and the collaborations that have developed over time.

 

“Economic development is not really about business attraction anymore, but it’s about people attraction. Without the people, we can’t attract the companies,” Robinson said.

 

A big tool that Lenawee Now is working with is Align. Align, originally branded as the Unified Talent System, is an initiative to educate students on opportunities available to them after they graduate high school. Videos are in the works to instruct students on how to present themselves in interviews, how to structure resumes and cover letters, and how to develop proper email and phone etiquette with potential and future employers. Lenawee Now worked with the top 25 employers in the area to figure out how to reach students and discuss other opportunities rather than a four-year college program.

 

However, they “realized that the audience is the young people, the Gen Zers and Millennials,” said Robinson. “We looked around the room and realized none of them were in the room.”

 

So, Lenawee Now went to where this generation was. They went to high schools to get feedback directly from the students to see what worked and didn’t work for them. That’s how the Align brand was born: out of collaboration and communication. Align will work with MI Bright Futures to help better educate students.

 

Their second big push is on building the entrepreneurial culture in Lenawee County.

 

But, none of this would be possible without Lenawee Now working closely with all the communities in the area.

 

“We truly believe in collaboration. This isn’t just about Lenawee County, it’s working with everyone together,” said Van Doren. “It’s us working together with MEDC, Michigan Works, and our local communities to make these things happen.”

 

Lenawee County has a rich sense of community. Speaking on behalf of the Adrian Area Chamber was their Executive Director, John Bartoszewicz. He mentioned that 75% of people born in Michigan, stay here. That stat puts Michigan in the top of the nation.

 

All the speakers are optimistic about what is to come in Lenawee County.