By Melissa Roy

Natural Resources

Lake St. Clair

Encompassing the entire eastern border of the county, Lake St. Clair is a popular recreational lake.  It is accessible in select places throughout the county, rich in wildlife and a primary connection point in the Detroit / Windsor region along the Great Lakes system.

Clinton River

Connecting six communities within Macomb County, the Clinton River reaches to the north into Oakland County and at the south end of the river into Lake St. Clair.  The river is recently transforming into a recreational and community asset, providing easy access to water recreation for residents and visitors.  It is also serving as a connection between communities.

Agricultural Land

As the basis for settling the county in its early years, the agricultural base in the county is both an economic driver and a unique natural resource that exists in abundance and is growing as an asset value.  As a natural resource, this predominately vegetation-focused industry in Macomb adds to the natural environment and provides

Community Resources

Recreation

A combination of local and regional parks provide access to outdoor and recreation assets to residents.  These parks integrate the natural features of our local communities and deliver those amenities to residents and visitors.

Trails

Beginning with an initial investment in the Macomb Orchard Trail system in the early 2000s, Macomb is constructing hike / bike trails throughout the county to increase non-motorized access.

Additionally, a combination of public entities and non-profit organizations are cleaning up the Clinton River to provide for paddling trails, giving more access to water recreation to residents and visitors.

Accessible education

Education from early childhood to K-12 to advanced- and higher education are accessible to residents across the county.  Providing a social connection within communities, the education system also provides a comprehensive access to economic opportunities and personal development for residents.

Community variety

Ranging from densely urbanized suburban to less populated rural communities, Macomb offers places to call home for a variety of lifestyles.  Community features can include waterfrontage, river access, water proximity, trail access, traditional downtowns, large-suburban and country-side attributes.  Each of these communities are well-connected to the region as whole, making all of the region’s assets accessible to all Macomb residents.

Economic resources

Strong base industries

The automotive industry; defense industry vehicle development and logistics; and the technological advancement associated with these industries centralize in the Detroit Region.  Macomb County is a primary source of development for these industries because of the location of key defense and automotive facilities.

Manufacturing

The Detroit Region’s manufacturing expertise is over 150 years old.  This long-standing development of industry skills, specialized talents and evolution of process gives this area a competitive edge that is globally recognized.  Macomb County has been and continues to grow manufacturing business with an expertise in vehicle assembly, mobility and production technology.

Food

As mentioned in the natural resources section, the county’s agricultural base is an economic driver and a unique natural resource that exists in abundance and is growing as an asset value.  The local expertise in production and supply chain management facilitates the development of new food-based industries from the county’s long-standing farming community.

Connected commercial and industrial corridors

The Detroit-Windsor region is a bi-national trading hotbed that has seamless access to the global market.  Situated in the eastern portion of the Detroit Region, Macomb’s infrastructure system allows for easy connection to the region at-large and global markets.  The region itself is approximately 4 million residents (6.5 M in the 10 county greater region) and is approximately 50% of the Michigan’s GSP (Detroit-Warren MSA / Michigan, 2014 unchained real dollars)

Low barriers to market entry

With access to a wide variety of well-trained talent, low tax rates and access to a global client base, Macomb has a market that is open to entrepreneurs, large corporations and everything in between.  This prime market access allows for business growth and has the ability to propagate high-value business clusters.