SE Michigan Summit Focuses On Green Jobs
ANN ARBOR (WWJ) -- Washtenaw County announced it will host the 2013 Southeast Michigan Regional Summit Thursday, Nov. 14 at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor.
Formerly known the Tri-County Summit, this annual event has been taking place in southeast Michigan since 1998 -- and it will be held this year in Washtenaw County for the first time.
Attendees will include top elected officials from Wayne, Washtenaw, St Clair, Oakland and Macomb counties, Detroit City Council members, state legislators, key representatives of businesses from around southeastern Michigan and members of the media. The 2013 Summit theme is "New Jobs Through Green Economic Development."
This year's event features keynote speaker Peter Adriaens, international expert on integrating green and clean technology development into countries' existing economic structures. Adriaens, who is also a professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and has advised the countries of Ireland and Finland on introducing green economic development initiatives within their legacy economies.
"The Southeast Michigan Regional Summit has a proven record of success as a vehicle to build consensus leading to tangible action," says Washtenaw County board of commissioners chairman Yousef Rabhi. "We hope this year's dialogue will lead to new business activities and contracts for our region. It will lay the groundwork for a regional strategy focused on creating and attracting green jobs in SE Michigan."
This year's topic focus will to examine how "green" practices have gone beyond being the hot new thing to being integrated into the way people do business. Attendees will hear from local entities already engaged in green practices and learn how people are making business or organizational decisions with our resources in the Southeast Michigan area.
