Detroit Today: Mark Hackel touts economic growth, diversity at county address
Hackel joined the show Thursday to share insights from his address, including what the county is doing to attract new residents to the state, and why diversity is so important.
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel at the 2023 Mackinac Policy Conference.
At his annual State of the County address, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel highlighted the county’s growing economy and diverse population, as well as new investments planned in public safety and a new animal shelter.
Hackel, who has served as county executive since 2011, gave the address before about 1,000 people on Wednesday at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts in Clinton Township — including Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans, Oakland County Executive Dave Coulter and other local dignitaries.
Touting the county’s growing diversity, Hackel said population remained steady at 880,000 residents, with 100,000 of those residents emigrating from another country and nearly 25% of residents identifying as minorities. He also said 2,400 homes have been built in the county over the past two years, helping with demand and promoting population retention. Public safety was another hot topic, sharing details about the new Central Intake and Assessment Center at the county jail being constructed to help those suffering from mental illness and addiction, as well as a new modern animal shelter being built to replace the old one.
On Thursday, Hackel joined Detroit Today to share more insights from his address, including how he sees his role as county executive, why diversity is important for the county and what the county is doing to attract new residents to the state.
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Guest:
Mark Hackel is the Macomb County executive. He delivered his “State of Macomb” county address Wednesday evening. He says Macomb aims to welcome new residents globally, highlighting diversity as one of the county’s strongest selling points.
“Some people don’t understand the importance of diversity within,” said Hackel. “We need to highlight that because it adds so much value to a community.”
WDET’s Russ McNamara contributed to this report.
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