Oakland County Emerging Sectors program hits $191M in investment

Thursday, January 14, 2010 | Source: metromode
Oakland County's Emerging Sectors program isn't trying to remake the county's economy in the image of Detroit, but more in the image of Pittsburgh and Chicago.

The program, the pet project of Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson, helped attract $191 million in investment from non-existing-automotive and non-automotive companies last year and created 3,200 jobs. The idea is to diversify the county's economy so it has several major players, like the current economies of Chicago and Pittsburgh, instead of how the automotive sector has dominated Michigan for generations.

"This program won't make Oakland County recession proof, but it will make Oakland County recession resistant," Patterson says.

The county started the program in 2004. Since then it has helped attract $1.4 billion in investment and created more than 16,000 jobs. It claims investments from 133 companies, including 33 last year.

"I always said this program is a 20-25 year commitment to diversifying Oakland County's economy," Patterson says.

Source: L. Brooks Patterson, executive of Oakland County
Writer: Jon Zemke
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