CBS News Detroit
May 7, 2024
Alysia Burgio
On Tuesday, county executives from Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb counties met with the top leaders of the Detroit Regional Chamber to discuss key issues impacting the region.
It’s an annual event bringing county leaders in Southeast Michigan together.
“This is about listening; this is about answering questions and making sure that people across the region are having the same conversation and singing from the same songbook,” said Brad Williams, Vice President of Government Relations for the Detroit Regional Chamber.
As Southeast Michigan continues to grow and prosper, especially after the success of the NFL Draft in Detroit that brought in a staggering 775,000 fans, the region’s top leaders are collaborating and touching base on the challenges in each county.
“We always talk about infrastructure, we talk about roads, we talk about talent attracting, and how we’d bring more people into our area that take on some of these jobs that are available is one of the critical issues that we’re dealing with right now,” said Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel.
In Wayne County, economic development is one of many goals for Wayne County Executive Warren C. Evans.
“Key issues to me are transportation, workforce development issues, housing issues,” Evans said.
Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter also has concerns about workforce development.
“We’re trying to get more of our adult residents the education or certification that they need to get these new jobs. We’re falling behind other states in the country. We really are, and so we’ve got to do a better job of training our workforce, our residents so that they can get these good-paying jobs that are coming to Michigan,” said Coulter.
The big takeaway from this event is that these three regional leaders are working together to build a brighter future for Southeast Michigan.
“We talk on a regular basis about issues that are affecting us or affecting the region,” Hackel said.
“We do work collaboratively, and I think we all have a vision for growing this region,” said Evans.
The Detroit Regional Chamber says conversations will continue at the Mackinac Policy Conference at the end of May.