MACKINAC ISLAND – In a drive to create a streamlined yet powerful state economic development engine, Michigan’s Economic Development Corporation is embarking on a redrawn strategy to spur growth from the ground up, an official said Friday.
“We’re going to be starting with our local economic development partners,” said Douglas Smith, senior vice president, strategic partnerships with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
He moderated one of Friday’s final sessions outlining the new strategy at the Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference.
MEDC has divided the state into 10 regions or collaborative alliances, based on similarities in economic structure. Those regions will create an economic development force more powerful than the single-county organizations now assisting existing businesses and seeking to attract new ones, he said.
“We’re going to start by fully integrating what we do with our locals,” he said. “A big step forward is the collaborative alliances. If we can work with collaborative alliances that are more than one city and one county without losing the identity of our cities and counties that’s really where we can have much greater impact.”
“If Escanaba has to compete with southeast Michigan, they’re going to lose every time.”
Regions will help communities assess priority needs, help the state align resources and help MEDC respond faster. MEDC currently has agreements with 154 partners in 83 counties. “The time that takes for us to try to respond is much greater,” Smith said.
Those partners range from wholly public organizations to entirely private groups to hybrid organizations whose purpose is to foster economic development.
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