Oakland County Touts $3 Billion Success Of 'Emerging Sectors' Program
WATERFORD (WWJ) -- Oakland County's Emerging Sectors program hit the $3 billion mark for investments last month when five companies, including BASF and Visioneering, announced new investments, County Executive L. Brooks Patterson announced Monday.
Since its inception in 2004, the Emerging Sectors strategy set up by Patterson has resulted in 337 businesses and more than 35,000 new jobs. The highest investments have been in the health care and life sciences sectors, which includes Medical Main Street, and I.T. and communications.
"By anyone's yardstick, this is a great accomplishment for Oakland County and its crack economic development team. If it weren't against county rules, we'd be popping corks on the fifth floor," Patterson said in a release.
The strategy targeted international companies that expressed an interest in expanding operations into North America and North American companies that identified Oakland County as the right business location.
The companies that put Emerging Sectors over the top in May are: ISOQA, Georges Pernoud NA, BASF, Visioneering, and Allied Printing.
In 2014, the county attracted $171 million of direct foreign investment. There are 1,040 international firms from 39 countries with business locations in the county.
"This is a testament to these companies – 337 of them," Patterson said. "They contributed (invested) to this huge success. I congratulate each and every one of those companies for helping rebuild Oakland County's economy after the Great Recession, and along the way creating 35,000 new jobs in a completely diversified portfolio."
