Regionalism

True or False? Automation Alley is ONLY an Oakland County organization.

False. Automation Alley is truly a regional initiative that was founded by L. Brooks Patterson in 1999. It was his vision that the Alley would become a regional organization serving all of Southeast Michigan. The Alley was formed as a partnership between business, government and education. Today, the Alley serves 8 counties and the City of Detroit, and is one of the nation’s fastest growing technology organizations with nearly 900 members.

True or False? Oakland County invests in regional initiatives.

True. Courts Law Enforcement Management Information System (CLEMIS) is the largest crime data sharing consortium in the nation, originating in Oakland County more than 30 years ago. It provides affordable and efficient technical solutions through a cooperative effort to 275 public safety agencies across 5 counties in SE Michigan. Funding for CLEMIS comes from a combination of Oakland County, Federal, and regional local government contributions based on the services each public safety agency consumes.

True or False? Oakland County does not work regionally to support economic development.

False. Oakland County continues to be an active participant and funding source for the Detroit Regional Economic Partnership (DREP), a program of the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce. The County serves on committees, participates in regional hosting opportunities, and attends numerous trade shows and missions abroad. Since DREPs inception, the County has helped  create $1.5 billion in new investment and more than 8,300 new jobs benefiting the entire REGION. Oakland County remains the only major donor county in Michigan, leaving approximately $1.4 billion on the table that Lansing sends elsewhere in the state.

Steve Henderson, Deputy Editorial Page Editor - Detroit Free Press, wrote on December 2, 2007, "If you want to talk about which county is investing heavily in the kind of regional efforts that makes the things that help make government more efficient and business more successful – you won’t find anyone doing more than Oakland."