Jim Van Doren, Executive Director at Lenawee Now, signs the Southeast Michigan economic development partnership protocol. Lenawee Now is joining other regional organizations in making a collective impact in business attraction.
With baseball season now in full swing, we’ll liken our news to the sporting world: we were part of a draft day for economic development organizations. That’s right. The Detroit Regional Chamber and 11 other economic development organizations compiled a team to represent Southeast Michigan as a whole to attract businesses to the region. Lenawee Now is enthusiastic to be part of the lineup.
On March 31st, the regional organizations met and agreed upon a protocol that states their continued collaboration on bringing businesses to the area.
By working together, Southeast Michigan will be able to brand itself as a cohesive unit with innumerable and wide-ranging opportunities to an international audience.
Working together has proven successful in the past, but what does that mean for Lenawee’s future? Lenawee County is now part of the bigger picture. There are 315,000 companies and 5.3 million people in Southeast Michigan. Those numbers can be used to make the region competitive on a global scale.
Recent successful collaboration among partners in Southeast Michigan include attracting Brugola OEB Industriale S.p.A. (Plymouth) and Eissmann Group Automotive (Port Huron), creating nearly 300 jobs and an investment of over $30 million in the region.
Making Lenawee Now part of that working group increases the likelihood of such companies locating here. Even when the success is outside of Lenawee borders, a major investment within the region will still positively affect us. The signed protocol formalizes what has been happening in the region and broadens its participants. It will break down some of the competitive nature to allow the region to grow together.
Working together helps us grow stronger.
We have already seen the benefits of collaborative relationships through our involvement in two other partnerships that increase our visibility to site selectors and corporate real estate professionals. The Regional Growth Partnership based in Toledo, helps us to work beyond the state line, which is critical considering our geographic location. The Greater Ann Arbor Region is a partnership comprised of six neighboring counties to leverage the name recognition of Ann Arbor and resources in surrounding communities. If you’ve ever had a coach tell you T.E.A.M. stands for “together everyone achieves more,” they were right and it applies more than ever in economic development.
While Lenawee County is and will always be our top priority, we feel investing some of our effort on a regional initiative will be best for the long term. We know that this strengthens Lenawee’s position in the economic development game and sets us up for hitting some home runs.