Innovation & Job News

Oakland County surpasses $1 billion in new economy investment, 11,000 jobs

Thursday, April 17, 2008

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Entrepreneurship, Investment, Oakland County, Talent

Few things command attention like $1 billion. That's the number Oakland County says it has attracted in new economy investment over the four years its Emerging Sector program has existed. Add on to that another 11,732 new jobs created, almost 3,000 jobs retained and more than $25.6 million in taxes generated and you have the makings of a darn good initiative.

"There is a constant barrage of bad news about how bad Michigan's economy is, how companies are leaving left and right," says L Brooks Patterson, executive of Oakland County. "It has been tough in Michigan. But even in this weak economy, the stunning success of the Emerging Sectors program is truly one of the good news stories of the year. We're attracting highly-skilled, high-paying jobs that are good for our county and the state. I'm an optimist and even I am surprised we reached the billion-dollar milestone this quickly."

Some of the recent job creation highlights include 1,899 jobs created by North American BanCard in Troy and $7 million invested by Microposite Inc. in Auburn Hills. There are lots of little success stories, too, such as the six jobs and $500,000 invested by Bunkspeed in Royal Oak.

Oakland County created the Emerging Sectors program in 2004 as a way to diversify the local economy and replace rapidly evaporating manufacturing jobs. The program helps encourage everything from start-ups to international companies that want to expand in North America to do so in Oakland County.

Source: Oakland County
Writer: Jon Zemke