Rouge River attracts $7 billion in investment

What's rolling, rolling down the river? In the case of the Rouge River, it would be money. Lots of it.

Wayne County's second most famous waterway has attracted more than $7 billion in new investments along its lower eight miles over the last 10 years. That's according to the Rouge River Gateway Partnership and University of Michigan-Dearborn, which concludes that this money has created thousands of jobs while helping improve the local environment.

Much of the investment has come from industrial and manufacturing facilities from the likes of Ford ($2 billion for a truck plant), DTE Energy (major alternative energy investments) and Severstal Steel ($1 billion for a new blast furnace).

The Rouge River has long been a major component of southeast Michigan's industrialism. Among the notable manufacturing sites are Henry Ford's world famous Rouge Plant.

More than 1.5 million people in 48 communities and three counties line the Rouge River. Its watershed is about 438 square miles. A number of institutions (both business and academic) make up the Rouge River Gateway Partnership.

Source: University of Michigan-Dearborn
Writer: Jon Zemke

Rouge River attracts $7 billion in investment

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