If it's always darkest before the dawn then the same sentiment rings true for job creation in Oakland County.
The fourth-wealthiest county in the U.S. took it on the chin in 2009, losing 60,000 jobs. It's set to lose another 9,900 jobs this year, but those numbers will start to reverse considerably in 2011 and 2012. Oakland County can expect to create 2,400 jobs next year and 8,000 the year after, according to economists George Fulton and Don Grimes of the University of Michigan Institute for Research on Labor.
A big part of this success is the county's efforts to diversify its economy away from over-reliance on the automotive and manufacturing industries. It's now capitalizing on other areas such as health-care and alternative energy.
"We feel we're quite diverse already," says Maureen Krauss, director of economic development and community affairs for Oakland County. "We know we have the assets that not only help the auto-supplying industry, but the robotics and alternative energy industries."
Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson likes to call this plan a way to help make his municipality recession resistant. It's an economic formula that has been employed with success in other Rust Belt metro areas such as Pittsburgh.
"We understand that we not only need to invest in diversifying our economy but that it's a long-term commitment," Krauss says.
Source: Maureen Krauss, director of economic development and community affairs for Oakland County
Writer: Jon Zemke
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