A lot can change in just two years. Fortunately, in Lenawee County, there has been a lot of positive change in that time period. Investors, local business men and women, and corporations have chosen to invest in our communities. This investment has and will produce jobs, tax revenue, and further improve the economic vitality throughout our region.
We celebrated these successes at our recent Vision Meeting, as well as learned more about talent, education, and entrepreneurship locally and statewide. It’s important to recognize the accomplishments that have been made as well as the challenges that still lie before us. These challenges will be met with the same level of collaboration that has been dedicated to solving them in the past.
Our partnerships have been critical to some of these successes. Regional collaboration with the Greater Ann Arbor Region, Regional Growth Partnership, and Detroit Regional Partnership along with local partnerships with educators, municipalities, workforce organizations, employers, and entrepreneurs are the key to our continued economic growth.
These partnerships have been recognized with International Economic Development Council awards for our Align Lenawee Talent Consortium and business attraction efforts in our communities.
Lenawee County residents will continue to reap the benefits of our local employers investing in new facilities, expansions, and improvements that have led to additional jobs over the past few years including:
- the telescope manufacturer PlaneWave’s purchase of the former Adrian Training School property to build a new production facility and corporate headquarters, a decision that was aided by the collaboration of local and state partners including Lenawee Now
- Promedica building the new Charles and Virginia Hickman Hospital, planned to open in 2020 and bringing state-of-the art health care options to our residents
- a new YMCA built on the new Promedica campus
- renewal of the county millage by voters to support county services including economic development
- local investors revived the historic Chaloner & Co. and launched Chaloner’s Cigar House plus the neighboring Copper House Coffee Company
- Rice and Barley Taphouse and Hoyden Creative received funding through Lenawee Now’s USDA loan programs in 2018
- the LION FUND (Lenawee Investment Opportunity Network) distributed it’s first loan to the Lenawee Intergenerational Learning Academy (LILA) in 2018 through Lenawee Now
- Hampton Inn and Suites and Comfort Inn and Suites broke ground on new hotels in Adrian that will open in 2019 and 2020, respectively
- Siena Heights completed the new Spencer Performing Arts Center in 2018
- Alévri Distilling Co. was awarded a LION Fund loan to open their new tasting room and production facility in Clinton
- the new Adrian College Boulevard opened in 2019
- Launch Lenawee, a program in Lenawee Now’s Entrepreneurial Series, began accepting students for entrepreneurial classes and mentoring in 2018.
- Launch Lenawee was successful in completing a crowdfunding campaign in 2019 to launch a new kitchen incubator program
- Lenawee Now secured a $45,000 USDA Grant for Launch Lenawee’s kitchen incubator program
- Lenawee Now received a Marshall Plan/CTE grant totaling $988,976 in 2019 to continue expanding its talent education initiatives in collaboration with the Lenawee Intermediate School District, K-12 school systems, local business, and our three colleges.
- the Detroit Regional partnership was formed in 2018 to market and promote 11 southeast Michigan counties, including Lenawee, to international businesses.
- Lenawee Now developed a marketing campaign to attract Japanese businesses in 2019
While this list is not all inclusive, its diversity is indicative of the dedication to economic opportunity and growth that we see and hear from many throughout our County. Without the contributions of these motivated and innovative individuals, organizations, and businesses, Lenawee County would not have seen many of these exciting advancements for our local economy over the past few years.