The retention and expansion of businesses in Lenawee County aids our economy to grow and helps our businesses become more committed to our community. Developing the existing employment opportunities in Lenawee is vitally important. But, what might be unclear for some people is that, often, a community’s job growth comes from within; from the retention of businesses. Lenawee County invests in Lenawee Now to do just that.
Formerly known as the Lenawee Economic Development Corporation, Lenawee Now is a non-profit economic development organization dedicated to economic and business expansion throughout Lenawee County. By helping to grow established businesses in Lenawee County, Lenawee Now creates an economically viable and vibrant region.
Lenawee Now provides critical services to support business growth including access to funding sources and talent enhancement.
“What more jobs means for our community is, basically, everything,” said Tim Robinson, Director of Operations at Lenawee Now. “Our purpose is jobs. The creation, expansion, and retention of jobs in Lenawee County.”
Lenawee County’s contribution to Lenawee Now to promote economic development is a major investment in job attraction and retention. Lenawee County is by far the largest public sector contributor to Lenawee Now and has continued that commitment even in the face of significant budget cuts.
“We make sure that we are calling on the companies in Lenawee County. We do retention visits to make sure that their needs are being met so that we can keep those good companies in Lenawee,” said Van Doren. “People need to understand that we need to bring jobs to Lenawee County. No one is going to bring them here, it’s up to us,” added Robinson.
Bringing More Jobs Through Retention and Expansion
Thanks to the hard work of Lenawee Now, Inteva Products, one of the top employers in Adrian and Lenawee County, added a quarter more employees to its workforce and expanded operations at its site in the southeast corner of Michigan.
Prior to its expansion, Inteva employed 474 people at the Adrian site. The new jobs in Adrian added approximately 27 percent more workers, with an initial 77 jobs created. “This project reflected the high level of collaboration and teamwork with our partners and the county,” said Jim Van Doren.
The incentive, and overall expansion of this project shows the investment that Lenawee has in working together to make the county a great place to work. These businesses contribute to the overall success of our economy, and prove the importance of business attraction, retention, and expansion; the importance of jobs in Lenawee County.