Director’s Corner: Wayne County Wins 11 Awards

The National Association of Counties – or NACo – is an organization that represents 3068 county governments across the nation. NACo provides awareness of what county governments do, particularly because county government is often the least known level of government in comparison to federal, state, and local levels of government.

Each year, NACo issues its annual Achievement Awards to recognize innovative and creative county government programs. Begun in 1970, awards are given in 21 categories including children and youth, criminal justice, county administration, environmental protection, information technology, health, and many more.

Last year, the county took home eight awards. I’m pleased to write that Wayne County won 11 awards this year. These awards could not have been achieved without the leadership of Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano and the creative and innovative team he’s assembled to administer county government.

While I could go into detail about all the awards we received, I thought I would highlight some of the more noteworthy awards in which EDGE was directly involved.

The Guardian Building

The County Executive’s idea to purchase and move to the Guardian Building involved more than a consolidation of county services. The move relocated 450 employees across eight departments from four locations into one central location. The move provided the county with the opportunity to upgrade technology and the HVAC system, implement green initiatives, improve workplace organization and efficiency, and uplift overall employee morale. Moreover, the move will save Wayne County taxpayers roughly $2 million per year compared to the cost of renting space at the Old County Building at 600 Randolph. Wayne County’s renovation of the Guardian Building also generated hundreds of union-scale trade jobs and was the largest single construction project undertaken in downtown Detroit during 2009.

The Detroit Region Aerotropolis

The other program I want to highlight is the Detroit Region Aerotropolis initiative. Led by Executive Ficano, the goal of the Aerotropolis initiative is to collaborate as a region to create a preplanned airport city between Detroit Metropolitan Airport and Willow Run Airport. The Detroit Region Aerotropolis initiative is supported by a partnership among Wayne County, Washtenaw County, the cities of Belleville, Romulus, Taylor and Ypsilanti, the townships of Van Buren, Huron, Ypsilanti, the Wayne County Airport Authority, and several private sector partners. An independent study concluded that the Aerotropolis could create over 60,000 jobs and $10 billion in annual economic impact within Michigan.

Other Awards

Briefly, the other award-winning programs were:

• The Nuisance Abatement Program, designed to help rid Wayne County neighborhoods of blighted properties;
• A scrap tire clean-up program;
• An urban farming initiative used to transition newly released inmates back into society;
• An innovative electronic management and budgetary program to help Wayne County improve the provision of services to taxpayers;
• The Wayne County Film Initiative that facilitated many projects filmed in Wayne County, bringing in millions of investment dollars and jobs;
• STEP, a program designed to expunge the records of non-violent criminal offenders.
• A court pilot program that provides a mental health continuum of care for inmates or people in the criminal justice system;
• A program to test juveniles in detention facilities and adults in jails for sexually transmitted diseases.

While receiving recognition for these programs is icing on the cake for the hard work put in by county employees, it is the positive impact of these programs on our residents which brings the most satisfaction to this administration and our employees. Put together, these programs intend to make the county a place where people can earn a living, raise a family, and enjoy their life. We will continue to work hard to create award winning programs that enhance the quality of life of our residents.

Turkia Awada Mullin is an Assistant CEO and Chief Development Officer for Wayne County’s Economic Development Growth Engine (EDGE)