Everything Starts With A Job!

Guest Blog by Phil Bertolini, Deputy County Executive – Oakland County, Michigan

Well there I was again flying with my family to avoid the cold and snow. We were headed to sunny Florida for a week of family fun. As I sat in various airports I found myself observing people from all walks of life and from various regions of the U.S. I also met some very friendly people all trying to do the same thing….avoid the cold.

My purpose for writing this blog is that these fine people represent a cross section of the very same people we work to serve every day in local government. These same people fund our services through their hard earned tax dollars and in this day in age the dollars are shrinking. What services do they need? What do they want from us?

I met this nice couple from Indianapolis that had a very long day being bumped from their flight and had been sitting in the airport for hours. What services do they need? They spoke to me about their sons who will have to leave Indiana to find work. This is a parent’s dilemma…if there are no jobs at home their children will have to leave. This same dilemma has struck one of my peers. He has watched his children leave Michigan one by one to find gainful employment…when will it stop?

The brain drain in Michigan is happening right before our eyes. If government could provide one main service, it should be to build an environment where companies will flourish and jobs will be created. No state in the union knows this better than the State of Michigan and no county in the state knows this better than Oakland County.

Oakland County has been experiencing a recession for almost 5 years now. The automobile industry has struggled mightily while the housing market tumbled almost 45% in just 3 short years. To combat this recession county leadership has been creating this business friendly environment. Brooks has launched several efforts to diversify the economy and create jobs. First, he launched Automation Alley in 1999, a high tech consortium of businesses that are rebranding Southeast Michigan away from manufacturing towards high tech industries. Automation Alley has over 1,000 companies moving towards this mission.

Second, Brooks launched the Emerging Sectors program which is an attempt to cultivate the new sectors of the new economy outside of automotive. This effort launched in 2004 and has proven to be very successful. The Emerging Sectors program has helped create over 23,000 new jobs, over 10,000 retained jobs and over $1.6 billion in new investment. Part of the Emerging Sectors program is the very successful Medical Main Street program. There are 93,000 health care workers in Oakland County with more than 45,000 additional workers projected to be gainfully employed in the next few years. For instance, the new Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine, that is set to open in August 2011, will generate approximately 11,000 new jobs.

If the answer to the economy’s rebound is jobs, jobs, jobs, then what will these people need from us in government? They will need the services that equate to a quality of life that is expected and quite frankly demanded. We all know that these services must be paid for and in a down economy with shrinking revenues we, in government, must reinvent the way we do business. This reinvention of government is in full swing under Brook’s leadership with Oakland County being ahead of the curve. Our government will continue to provide innovative services that our citizens need but we must remember one thing, everything starts with a job.

My trip provided memories for my family that will last for the rest of their lives. Let’s hope that when our sons enter the workforce there are jobs waiting for them right here in Michigan. If they then choose to live somewhere else in the world…..they will have to break the news to their Mother!