Governor, other officials weigh in on Troy’s business outlook

TROY — On April 28, Troy hosted the “Your City, Your County, Your State and You” event at the Troy Marriott Hotel to discuss the state of local economic development and the relationship between the government and the business community.

Moderated by Fox 2 News anchor Taryn Asher, it consisted of a panel discussion that included Troy Mayor Ethan Baker, Oakland County Executive David Coulter and Quentin Messer Jr., the president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer also spoke.

“The event, especially with the presence of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, is to talk about business in the city of Troy, Oakland County and the state of Michigan,” said Sydney Dych, the director of marketing and events for the Troy Chamber of Commerce. “This is not a political conversation at all. It is purely a business conversation for the betterment of the business community as a whole. That we have so many government officials here today is fantastic, because this is an entirely nonpartisan conversation about business. This includes what we can expect to see in the next few years, different growth opportunities and things to keep in mind for our members.”

Regarding Troy-centric measures to support the business community, Baker highlighted the importance of creating an attractive location for skilled employees, which would, in turn, attract businesses to the area.

“We don’t offer financial incentives and don’t have access to things like tax abatements, so we focus on making this as attractive a location to do business as possible,” said Baker. “I’ve heard time and time again from business owners that if they want to be here, they need the employees to be here — what can be called quality of life or quality of place. This means great schools, great restaurants, great roads, great infrastructure.”

He said the highlight of Troy’s current improvement plans are its upcoming infrastructure and livability improvements.

“We have a downtown development authority coming to Troy. We are about to embark on a huge landscape development in the Big Beaver corridor. Right now, near the I-75 interchange — the most valuable part of our city — looks like a wasteland,” Baker said. “This is often the first thing people see when they get off the expressway and they enter Troy. We also have a lot of quality-of-life improvements coming, including a new ice skating rink and a pavilion.”

He also cited last year’s sale of Oakland Mall to Mario Kiezi and his firm MKiezi Investments as a significant highlight in Troy’s business community.

“Mario is a very energetic guy. He is trying to do a lot of interesting things out there (at Oakland Mall). I think he is going to be successful and is changing the vibe there.”

Coulter said the focus on improving future business prospects in the area is ensuring the workforce has proper education opportunities

“Every business I’m talking to is saying, ‘I would grow more if I had more people with the right skills and the things I need.’ … How we get more workers is the key to addressing our economy when we look to the future,” he said. “The thing that attracts employers to Oakland County is the workforce. One of our big initiatives in Oakland County is what we call ‘Oakland Aid’ — 60% of our residents have something beyond a high school diploma. That is not going to be good enough in the future, so the state (of Michigan) is saying they want to get the state’s average to 60%, and we are only at 40% now across the state. When we looked at that in Oakland County, since we are already at 60%, we want to get to 80% by 2030. This will continue to attract jobs and increase wages throughout the county as we move forward.”

He also said that ensuring a community is welcoming to new residents, particularly foreign-born residents, is a crucial aspect of keeping the Oakland County area competitive.

“Oakland County would have lost population in the last 10 years according to the census had it not been for foreign-born residents. Many of them have settled in Troy or Farmington Hills or Novi and West Bloomfield. We are putting out the welcome mat. … They want quality of life. They want walkable communities and transportation.”

Messer stressed the need to engage with businesses that are already in the Oakland County area and explore new ways to help them grow.

“We are a state that makes things and grows things. We have to continue to do that. … We need to allow people to re-engage,” said Messer. “There is a reason why 96 of the top 100 Tier 1 auto suppliers have operations in Michigan. The others are here. That is something we need to see in other industries, like clean energy. We need to have them come here because others are coming here.”

He also announced that three businesses, Ancor Automotive, PureForge and the Ta Ta Group, are all going to be announcing business expansions in Troy in the coming weeks.

Whitmer said her office has been working to provide the necessary support and relief to Michigan businesses and taxpayers to ensure they want to move to Michigan or stay in the state.

“Since I took office, we have focused on unleashing our state’s extraordinary potential by creating an environment where businesses can grow and thrive,” she said. “This year, we have been off to a very productive start. In January, I signed a $1 billion supplemental that is investing in housing, community revitalization, and support for small businesses and entrepreneurs. In February, Electrical Components International, Expert Technologies (Group), and LER TechForce will all have announced investments in Oakland County to create 320 good paying and skilled jobs. In March, I signed bills rolling back the retirement tax and quintupling the working families tax credit. These two tax changes equal a billion dollars of tax relief.”

She added that such steps forward have taken place across the state.

“We have been fighting to bring jobs and supply chains back home, which was a clear lesson from the pandemic,” said Whitmer. “Just recently, we took a major step forward to secure more than 2,300 good-paying manufacturing jobs in Big Rapids making long range batteries. We are creating economic opportunity everywhere.”

She closed by saying that she believes Michigan’s future is bright but that it requires people to work together.

“When people move somewhere, it is the ultimate vote of confidence,” Whitmer said. “Our job is to make sure people have the support to make sure they choose Michigan. The way to do that is to collaborate on the issues we are all confronting. This means talent, education, housing and economic development.”