New Business Incubator Working To Create Jobs In Macomb County
STERLING HEIGHTS (WWJ) - Creating jobs in the defense industry is the goal of a new public-private partnership opening in Sterling Heights.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel says the "Velocity Collaborate Resources Center" will help fledgling start-ups get the know to grow successfully and create jobs in the county's defense corridor.
"You think about the basis of what Macomb County's economy is all about, it's automotive, advanced manufacturing, and defense. This, I think, is gonna help us recreate or drive that energy into that area to, I guess, get more attention to Macomb County," Hackel said.
Though officials associated with the center are optimistic about the outcome, Hackel said it's hard to say how many defense-related jobs can be created on top of the 7,000 already in Macomb County's defense corridor.
"The spin-off of that, I have heard anywhere in the area of 30,000 jobs in and around this whole defense clustering. That's a tremendous asset to the county," Hackel said.
"We need to make sure that those that are in the federal level understand the funding issues, when they starting talking about budgets, how important that is to keep this economy going in Southeast Michigan. But it's up to us to try to stabilize that," he added.
Congressman Sander Levin said the incubator, made possible through a federal grant, demonstrates the value of government help in the private sector.
"The government can't do the work of small or middle-sized entrepreneurs who start the businesses," Levin said. "Government can't start the business, but they can help spark the start of business."
Start-ups from the incubator would also benefit from the entrepreneurial counseling offered by Oakland University.
