The City of Charlotte is one of 10 communities in Michigan to be selected for a new state program aimed at boosting local economies. Governor Rick Snyder announced the launch of the State’s Rising Tide program during a kick-off event in River Rouge this past Monday.
“We can collaborate with communities to help develop the tools to advance a strong economic vision and create new career opportunities for residents,” Snyder stated in a press release announcing the program. “This program will help economically challenged communities be better positioned for redevelopment opportunities.”
Charlotte City Manager Gregg Guetschow said the program comes at a perfect time for the Charlotte community.
“It fits really well with some of the things that we’ve already started with downtown revitalization,” Guetschow said. “It will open up access to some additional resources at the state level that will allow us to make our way a little further a little faster.”
Guetschow said the biggest benefit will be the ability to utilize some of the technical assistance the state can provide, though he is unsure as to exactly how the program will work.
“Even the people we’ve been meeting with are kind of feeling their way through this,” he said. “The state officials involved in this have met with local officials, and are meeting with other business people in the community.”
The first plan, Guetschow is a community assessment that will help guide strategies moving forward. The assessment is scheduled for completion before the end of the calendar year.
According to state officials, communities were chosen from 10 different regions based on a series of economic factors, including unemployment rates, poverty levels and labor participation rates. Guetschow said the City of Charlotte met the threshold in five of six economic factors the state utilized in making its selection.
“Whether we like to admit it or not, we do have some economic challenges in front of us,” Guetschow said. “If we can expand the number of tools we have available to try to meet those challenges, we certainly want to do that.”
Other communities selected for Rising Tide include, Newberry, Central Lake, Grayling, Evart, Harrison, Sandusky, Paw Paw, River Rouge and Hillsdale.