Organization

Enterprise Group widens focus

Sunday, September 14, 2008
By Chris Gautz
cgautz@citpat.com
768-4926

Quantum. Windmill. Cookie.

Those names that don’t mean anything to anyone outside local economic-development circles represent Jackson County’s efforts to attract hundreds of jobs and millions in investment.

For years, The Enterprise Group focused on retaining jobs in a county that has been hemorrhaging them. Now the agency is broadening its focus to attract new businesses.

Enterprise Group President and CEO Scott Fleming said after he arrived on the job in February, he asked business and community leaders what they wanted.

``What everyone told me was we need new businesses here to inject more dollars into our economy,’’ he said.

To help track that, he presents a scorecard each month to the EG board, which contains a list of the attraction activities he and his staff are engaged in.

The August scorecard contains 12 potential and confidential projects that represent a potential total investment of more than $300,000 and 1,000 jobs. Each project has a code name.

Among the others are Global Solutions, MMC, International and Greenwood.

Fleming said aside from manufacturing and high-tech companies, the EG are also looking to Hollywood.

``Much like the rest of the state, we’re trying to attract some of the movie industry to the area, because of the large tax incentives the state now offers,’’ he said.

Fleming knows that every pitch won’t be successful, but he said you need to juggle 10 to 20 potential projects in hopes that one of them will come through.

``One home run is all we need,’’ he said.

If a large company moves to Jackson, it will need suppliers and those suppliers will need support facilities, he said. This means more jobs in the community.

When he started with the EG, Fleming said he found that Jackson County wasn’t on the Michigan Economic Development Corp.’s radar, because there had been too much infighting and power struggles over the years in the county.

So Fleming met with those in charge, many of whom he has known from past jobs, and said now the state is sending word of projects to him.

``I think he has put Jackson back on the map with the MEDC,’’ said Allan Hooper, economic development operations director for Jackson-based Consumers Energy.

Enterprise Group Chairman Ric Walton, who is pleased with the focus on attracting jobs to the area, said Fleming’s connections have enhanced Jackson’s position.

``We’re not just sitting here waiting for something to come,’’ said Walton, who added that the EG will be even more aggressive as time goes on.

Bringing in potential leads is a necessity, because the percentages for success can be low.

``But if we don’t get up to the plate, we’re not going to get anything,’’ Walton said.

Some of the targets have come from the MEDC and others from Fleming’s connections.

When the MEDC sends a lead, it doesn’t tell local officials what company it is. It only supplies a code name and a brief list of the needs the company would have in terms of infrastructure, energy, acreage and square footage.

This spring, when German automaker Volkswagen was considering Michigan as a site for an assembly plant, the MEDC assigned the project the code name ``Polar Bear.’’

``We didn’t even know Polar Bear was VW,’’ Fleming said.

Part of the reason for doing this is the fear of price gouging if a property owner finds out what is being considered, and is also a way to protect the company.

Amy Torres, economic development director for the EG, said she has been busier since Fleming came on board.

``It is extremely exciting to be involved in all of this,’’ Torres said. ``There’s just so much going on.’’

She said the focus on attracting new employers to the county has almost been like adding a new division to the organization.

The task of retaining and growing jobs at companies already here remains a priority.

They are learning how to balance the two, which is made easier by the new systems Fleming has brought with him to help manage all of the project leads coming in, she said.

And Fleming is using his network of consultants to spread the word about Jackson as a desirable place to do business.

``That’s really paying dividends now,’’ Hooper said.