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Stone and Taylor signed a $500,000 agreement April 16 between their cities, aimed at growing the defense industry in the area.
Photo by Brian Wells
STERLING HEIGHTS/WARREN — The mayors of the two largest cities in Macomb County have signed an agreement aimed at growing the defense industry, an industry officials referred to as a national asset.
Mayors Lori Stone, of Warren, and Michael Taylor, of Sterling Heights, signed a $500,000 agreement April 16 between their cities.
The initiative is being called the Arsenal Alliance. It aims to build on the strong defense industry already present in Macomb County by driving development, job creation and retention.
Taylor said the agreement is a partnership between the two cities that will make one of the biggest industries in Macomb County even stronger.
The two cities are natural partners, being that they’re so similar and share a border, he said.
“It’s long past time that we collaborate on more issues like this for the benefit of our people and for the betterment, really, of the nation,” he said.
The agreement, Taylor said, will take funding from Sterling Heights and Warren to create a joint venture to support the contractors that are already there while also helping to find new government contracts through the Department of Defense.
“This is not a competition,” Taylor said. “We’re working for the betterment of the entire region.
Stone said the partnership is meant to show a strong commitment to defense and is meant to be celebrated. It continues to build on a legacy started before World War II, she said.
“Our region has long been known as the Arsenal of Democracy, a title earned through the determination, ingenuity and industrial power that helped win World War II,” she said. “This legacy continues today.”
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, who also spoke at the event, said the defense industry in the county isn’t just a regional asset, but a national asset.
“We are making things here that protect those who protect us,” he said.
Taylor said the timing of the agreement is good because of the current state of the national economy.
“The global economic situation right now is chaotic,” Taylor said. “The national economy is chaotic, so this is the best time for us to be undertaking an initiative like this. To put a statement out and say Macomb County, Sterling Heights and Warren, we’re important, we matter.”
