“Oakland County’s strength lies in our ability to address issues head-on, find solutions to problems and provide excellent services to our residents,” Coulter said. “Our purpose is defined by the way we step in to help our residents and each other. It has to do with providing support at every corner to ensure people are living their best lives here in Oakland County.”
One of the biggest successes in the past year, he said, has been the expansion of a countywide public transit system, which was something Oakland County – and voters – insisted upon.
Coulter said that public transportation is progressing in Oakland County. Multi-year agreements with SMART, Western Oakland Transportation Authority (WOTA), North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA), the Older Persons’ Commission (OPC), and People’s Express (PEX) are in place after voters approved the millage in November of 2022.
NOTA, WOTA, OPC and PEX are seeing double-digit increases in their ridership since expanding their routes and hours last year. The ability for people to get to the places they need to be
– grocery stores, recreation centers or local restaurants – has made a difference in the lives of those who previously had little to no mobility. Route and service planning continues with input from communities, businesses, and residents.
During the speech, Coulter announced the placement of 15 Oakland80 navigators in high schools. Oakland80, Coulter’s initiative to ensure 80 percent of Oakland County adults have a post-secondary degree or certification by 2030, will now include a focus on younger students.
“We’re committed to starting much younger with our high school students so that no matter what their circumstances, they know there are options for success,” Coulter said.
Oakland County has already launched programs in Pontiac and Hazel Park schools to provide coaching and mentors for students who did not think that college or advanced training was within reach. For instance, the I Am Pontiac program paired students with internships at area businesses that gave them their first taste of the work world. Some of those students have transitioned to full or part-time employees with those businesses.
This new team of Oakland80 navigators is moving into more schools in the near future.
Coulter recently traveled to Asia in the hopes of attracting investment that will provide jobs for future degree earners. He joined Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation on their five-day investment mission to Taiwan and South Korea at the beginning of March.
As Oakland County continues to pursue opportunities for growth and international partnerships, it is imperative to forge connections with key stakeholders in countries such as South Korea and Taiwan, underscoring the county’s commitment to fostering global collaboration, attracting investment, and promoting innovation.
In his speech last Thursday, the county executive heralded auto supplier TYC Genera, who announced on the Taiwan leg of the trip that they would be expanding their research and development footprint at the site of Detroit Public Television’s former Riley Broadcast Center in Wixom.
“Business attraction is also a big part of our mission, as we’re always looking for avenues to grow our economy,” Coulter said.
“When it comes to our strength, our purpose, and our people, Dr. Calandra Green, Oakland County’s health officer whom we tragically lost last May, comes to mind,” Coulter said. Her legacy is the inspiration behind another announcement in the speech.
Oakland University is creating a scholarship fund in honor of Green for nursing students at OU. Green, a compassionate nurse who stood for excellence and accessibility in healthcare, attended the Nightingale Nursing Awards at OU the night she was taken too soon. The Coulter administration supports the creation of this scholarship.
“Calandra was a passionate advocate for public health services across the country, especially in communities of color,” Coulter said. “Her legacy of helping and connecting with people continues.”
Coulter recounted the many ways in which Oakland County has leveraged its strength and purpose to invest in people this past year.
“We’ve had remarkable success on a number of fronts in the past year, from transit to mental health care, affordable housing to sustainability, small business coaching to education and training,” Coulter said. “We were able to provide these innovative programs with the support of the Board of Commissioners ... And these programs have touched hundreds of thousands of people.”
Some of the successes included:
• Establishing a $20 million Housing Trust Fund that is working with developers to provide more affordable housing options in the county through incentives and gap financing. Projects have already been approved in Southfield, Royal Oak Township, Pontiac and Rochester Hills. One of the projects will provide desperately needed housing for adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. It is only the second such development in all of Michigan.
• Funding Oakland SAVES with $5 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars to provide grants, primarily to low-income residents who wanted to make energy efficiency improvements in their homes. The interest and need were so high that, by Friday of that same week, the entire $5 million in funding was spoken for, providing assistance for 1,100 residents.
• Leveraging $2 million in ARPA funds to wipe out the medical debt for up to 80,000 residents for pennies on the dollar.
• Investing $2 million in ARPA funds with Micah 6, a community-based organization that is transforming the former Webster Elementary School into a center that will provide much-needed services to the Pontiac community.
• Collaborations with Corktown Health and Honor Health resulted in nurses visiting 11,000 homes of pregnant mothers or young families and providing specialty health care services for nearly 3,400 children. The county also provided more than 32,000 immunizations.
These are just a few of the many successes highlighted in Coulter's address, which included the Oakland Thrive non-profit to support small businesses, Project DIAMOnD to provide 3D printers to small manufacturers, and the successes of the Workforce Development team. To read more about what Oakland County is doing, go to oakgov.com/exec and click on the State of the County tab to read or view the speech.
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