By Patrick Farver
A vibrant community is made possible by a thriving economy. Our mission is to empower Lenawee County to participate in the world’s economy to the fullest extent possible, thereby making our community a more attractive place to live, work, and play.
Economic development has taken more of a holistic approach in recent years. Whereas previously it was just attracting business to our community, or as we used to say, Smokestack Chasing. These days the challenges that Lenawee County has in housing, childcare, and workforce development, are issues that need to be addressed alongside attracting new businesses and helping existing companies grow.
Lenawee County has been blessed to grow in several different ways and Lenawee Now has been active in all those ways, one of which we are most proud of is the collaboration that we have been able to develop with several different public and private partners.
We have been able to foster collaboration with local colleges, schools, and businesses to prepare Lenawee for a better tomorrow. Our sector collaborations integrate our businesses and educational institutions. This program creates a space where people who are normally competitors come together to work on common problems and issues that they have in their business to make them all better. Currently, we have collaborations in the auto industry, the chemical industry, the winemaking industry, and construction.
Currently, we have several projects to empower and vitalize the community. A few that I am extremely excited about are first, our Align Center for Workforce Development. We have been incubating that process for about seven years now, and we just recently received a $10 million grant from the State of Michigan to build The Align Center for Workforce Development. Our building has been purchased, and we are revamping it and preparing it. We anticipate a grand Opening next spring. Another major issue in workforce development is childcare. We have received several grants for childcare, which will be extremely helpful as we move forward to attract new workers and new businesses.
To help the desperately needed housing issue, we are part of several initiatives to provide additional housing in Lenawee. We have a group that is taking down the old Bixby Hospital and building 52 new units in that space. Another way we plan to combat the housing shortage and better use Lenawee’s natural resources is to help develop the riverfront in downtown Adrian. We have a group ready to take down buildings and put some new housing in that area. As well as clean-up the area along the River Raisin so that we can utilize that resource as well.
In addition, we have the Park House development in Downtown Adrian, which is redoing about half of a block in downtown Adrian. There will be 40 apartments, entertainment, and commercial space. Both the riverfront cleanup and the Parkhouse project are possible because of an enhancement grant we received from the State last year. These will be beautiful additions to Downtown Adrian.
Over the years, we have supported Lenawee’s municipalities through various business development initiatives. One exciting project is funding a market study that will be used in our efforts to attract a new grocery store to Morenci.
Our efforts have led to several successes so far and with your help and support we will continue that momentum going forward.