By Melissa Roy
Advancing Macomb conducted numerous interviews in earlier part of 2016. From these interviews, the board of directors identified five ground-level projects as integral to the vision of creating an enriching environment to live, learn, recreate, innovate and conduct business. These are projects that we are adopting to serve as starting points for the larger strategic plan and asset inventory. The final five projects represent all three focus areas – community investment, economic development and natural resource protection.
Advancing Macomb Projects
- Roseville 12 Mile and Gratiot improvements and tree planting
- Macomb blue and green trail marketing
- WaterTowns Mt. Clemens paddling launch
- Manufacturing marketing and programs
- Eastside Bike Drive
The East Side Bike Drive originated from Advancing Macomb as an introductory project for the organization to serve the community as a whole and help support some of the interviewed projects. A model project from Utica, New York was used as an example and road map to designing our project.
Roseville’s downtown redevelopment and the Macomb Greening initiative resulted in blending two separate projects. In the strategic planning process, AM identified 12 Mile road as a key corridor in Macomb. As a major cross section of 12 mile, the city of Roseville is a fundamental access point to the corridor. Both the city of Roseville and Macomb County Planning identified redevelopment, beautification and greening of several intersections in Roseville. By investing in the redevelopment and greening along this corridor, we will help support community and environmental sustainability.
A paddling and peddling marketing project that will support and promote the assets in the county, Advancing Macomb will produce a promotional piece for Macomb’s blue and green trails. In conjunction with Macomb County Planning and The Clinton River Water Shed, Advancing Macomb will develop an access map for trails throughout the county. This map will show local amenities and trail access points throughout the county.
The Clinton River is one of the most prevalent assets identified in the AM strategic plan. Board members expressed the river’s importance to the Macomb’s environmental integrity and the potential for economic development and community enhancement. Advancing Macomb would like to support a series of projects identified in the Water Towns program to enhance access to the river and amenities associated with those access points. For the first year, we recommend supporting the project in Mt. Clemens to build out paddling launches and amenities.
Advancing Macomb will design a messaging platform for manufacturing in Macomb County. The platform will include a message strategic plan, stakeholders and support for a series of programs and projects. Initial projects identified are: Macomb Business Awards, Manufacturers’ Engage and Manufacturing Day.
