Partnership Update: GAAR & DRP

Part of the Monroe County BDC’s goal is to partner with other regional economic development organizations to boost outreach through increased collaboration. This provides several benefits to all organizations involved including region wide attraction, data collection and advocacy. Two of our partner organizations, Detroit Regional Chamber and the Greater Ann Arbor Region (GAAR), have had significant events take place in the new year.

The BDC has partnered in the past with the Detroit Regional Chamber on several projects throughout our county and region. The group recently announced that their business attraction division will be splitting off to form the Detroit Regional Partnership (DRP), an 11 county group that will focus on business attraction. Barry Matherly has been chosen as CEO of this new organization which will continue and enhance the efforts of the chamber’s “Destination Detroit” program. Barry brings a tremendous amount of experience as he was the head of a similar organization in Richmond, VA. We look forward to working with the DRP and are excited about the new opportunities this collaboration will bring.

Additionally, the BDC is a member of GAAR. Partner counties include Livingston, Lenawee, Washtenaw, Jackson and Hillsdale counties. The group was formed on a grant from the MEDC and has proven to be extremely beneficial to all organizations involved. On February 8, the partnership met with area legislators to discuss topics pertinent to economic development in our region. As a result of the November election, several new legislators have been sworn in to represent partner counties. The session proved to be extremely beneficial as these legislators were able to learn a bit about our organizations and the issues that are facing economic development today. We are fortunate to belong to a group that works to advocate for economic development at the local, state and federal level.

We are always seeking new opportunities for partnership as advancing attraction, data collection and advocacy allows us to expand the mission and vision of the BDC. Our organization looks forward to expanding on these existing partnerships into the future!