Metro Detroit creates $1 billion in investment and 19,688 jobs

The economic development agencies that make up the Economic Development Coalition of Southeast Michigan helped bring more than $1 billion in investment to Metro Detroit in 2008, according to a report from Detroit Renaissance.

The coalition is made up of agencies like Ann Arbor SPARK and TechTown, which assisted 1,200 companies create 19,688 jobs last year through 183 projects. Automation Alley helped 24 companies to spur $9 million in investment and add 150 new jobs, thanks to $4.5 million of cash infusions.

"The water is not out of the tub in Southeast Michigan yet," says Kenneth Rogers, executive director of Automation Alley. "There is a heart beat here. There is still business going on in Southeast Michigan."

Source: Kenneth Rogers, executive director of Automation Alley
Writer: Jon Zemke