County outlook: Good for business
Coulter’s state of county speech promotes education, business growth and retention
Oakland County’s future success rests on four pillars: education, transportation, jobs and mental health, County Executive Dave Coulter said in his state-of-the-county speech last week.
Coulter emphasized the county’s role in delivering 21% of Michigan’s gross domestic product, more than any county in the state.
Diversity is the county’s key strength, he said, noting that none of the county’s 62 cities, townships or villages have more than 100,000 residents and the county’s landscape ranges from urban to rural.
More than 700 companies from 35 countries are represented in the county. Over the last five years, that’s meant 30,000 jobs and $2.7 billion in investment.
Last year 40 companies either expanded their capacity here or chose the county as a new location, he said, including Our Next Energy, Fanuc Robotics and Via Motors — which is relocating their headquarters to Auburn Hills — and Zeiss’ building an environmentally-friendly showroom in Wixom. Their investments, Coulter said, represent more than 7,000 retained and new jobs.
To improve those numbers, Coulter said, the county is helping people who want to complete degrees or training certificates as well as expanding public transportation system.
He highlighted three education programs:
Acorn2Oak is a minigrant program for Oakland County residents ages 8 to 18 years old to pursue robotics, a documentary or other initiative in their school to highlight a program and needs help covering the cost of filming or supplies or for the cost of charitable events.
MI Career Quest of Southeast Michigan is re
launching to help 8,000 high school students to explore future careers in highdemand fields.
Oakland80, an initiative started in 2020, aims to have 80% of the county’s adults earn a college degree or industry certification by 2030. So far, more than 700 people have used the service, Coulter said. Since 2020, the county’s moved from 61% of resident with a degree or certificate to 67.5%
The county’s workforce development offices are supporting students who return to school with grants for transportation, child care and other assistance.
Coulter called on businesses to provide workers incentives for completing their education, even as he noted support for small businesses is expanding as resources are spread around the county. The county spent more than $1 million on helping small businesses with employee retention. Coulter said businesses that used the country’s services experienced a 90% employee-retention rate.
Businesses and residents will benefit from the county’s clean-slate program, a second chance for people who have non-violent convictions that are 20 or more years old.
“We shouldn’t let mistakes like this define someone’s future,” Coulter said, adding that the program supports people in finding jobs, housing and education.
Affordable housing is key to attracting and retaining employees, he said. Among the challenges: 43% of residents are spending more than 30% of their monthly paycheck for shelter. Spending less than 30% on housing is considered financially wise. .
The county is spending $1 million to provide grants for building, rehabilitating or otherwise preserving affordable housing. Another $5 million is going into a housing trust fund to fill a financing gap for home developers. The county’s new landbank, launched last year, offers another tool for affordable housing, he said.
Coulter also touted the county’s $10 million allocation for the Water Resource Commission’s new sanitary sewer lines between the county’s northwestern communities, many facing failing septic systems, to Genesee County’s water system. Another $3.9 million in American Rescue Plan Act money is helping 35 communities’ water improvement initiatives.
Mike Spisz, the commission’s Republican minority leader, said he was surprised the speech didn’t put as much emphasis on the county’s Triple-A bond rating from Moody’s, which is used to determine interest rates for capital projects. Spisz is among those commissioners who would like to see a new training center for the sheriff’s office.
Kyle Jen, the county’s chief financial officer, told the commission’s finance committee this week that preliminary property tax outlook appears to be $5.2 million higher than in the current budget and in general spending is $2.8 million below expected rate so far this fiscal year. The county’s fund balance is $205 million, lower than the $288 million peak. He said the reduction was in part from the anticipated cost of the $39.8 million settlement for the Rafaelli property tax-lawsuit settlement. He’ll be making a longer-term financial projection next month, as commissioners develop the 2024 budget. State law requires government officials to make quarterly financial reports.
Commissioner Angela Powell, who represents Pontiac, said after Coulter’s speech she’ll be watching to see what happens to the county’s commitment to the city beyond the installation of Oakland Thrive in the Riker building and an emergency mental-health clinic initiative.
Video of Coulter’s speech is on Facebook and YouTube and included sign-language interpretation. Sonia Acosta, president and CEO of Centro Multicultural La Familia in Pontiac, said she’ll invite Coulter to Radio Centro Multicultural’s podcast to get his message to Spanish-speaking residents.