Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel has some bragging
rights over his Oakland County counterpart, L. Brooks Patterson, now that
Macomb ranks No. 3 in the nation in the number of manufacturing jobs created
last year.
According to a study by Headlight Data, a Texas-based
data information system company, Macomb enjoyed 3,727 net new manufacturing
jobs in 2014.
Oakland County also had a good showing — 13th in the
nation, with 1,928 new blue-collar jobs – but trailed Hackel’s beloved Macomb
County. Hackel and Patterson have an ongoing, playful competition in public
over who hails from the superior county.
County Executive Warren Evans is the man who is lifting his index finger high
into the air as Wayne ranked No. 1 in the nation at 4,225 net new jobs, a 5.3
percent increase over 2013.
Evans, who desperately needed some good news as Wayne
County slides in a financial mess, said this to the Free Press:
“Wayne County has a long history of being the home
to large- and small-scale manufacturers, so it is not surprising to me that we
lead the nation in manufacturing jobs. Our
geography makes us an ideal hub for manufacturing, given our proximity to an
international border and superior infrastructure assets, such as major railways
and convenient highways.”
the top 10, giving Michigan the distinction as the state with the most membership
on the list of 2,746 counties nationwide.
The biggest shocker in the rankings was Washtenaw County
— for many years one of Michigan’s healthiest counties from an economic
standpoint – which finished near the bottom of the national list. Washtenaw
came in at No. 2,710 after losing 633 jobs.
