Hackel likes Big Boy and Jobbie Nooner, but not Selweski

My weekly column, “Is This The Best Macomb County Can Do?” lit up my blog – nearly 200 hits in the first hour after it was posted on Monday -- 1,100 hits for the day. Much of that online traffic was due to The Huffington Post-Detroit web page picking it up and offering this slightly odd headline: “Fed-Up Macomb Daily Columnist Begs Residents To Stop Loving Jobbie Nooner And Big Boy Restaurants.”

I received lots of compliments about the column but one reader who was in the distinct minority was County Executive Mark Hackel. I was told he was furious after reading my piece. Apparently it took him two days to calm down because he waited until today to release a letter to the editor (soon to be printed in The Macomb Daily) that rebuts my column.

Here’s Hackel’s response in its entirety:

June 27, 2012

Dear Editor:

I’m sure most Macomb County residents and business owners share my disappointment over

Chad Selweski’s Sunday column headlined, “Is this the best Macomb County can do?”

The column criticizes readers and advertisers of the Macomb Daily for the choices they made in the

newspaper’s “Best of the Best” contest, in which readers ranked their favorite restaurants and stores.

Apparently, the winning selections aren’t highbrow enough for Mr. Selweski, who contends that our

supposed lack of sophistication hampers our ability to attract business investment.

The fact that Mr. Selweski degraded readers because they gave high marks to Big Boy, a restaurant chain headquartered right here in Macomb County, is an embarrassing “gaffe” on his part.

The column made many misguided statements about economic development in Macomb County. Mr.

Selweski challenged job-creation statistics I cited at a recent public event, implying our information was

faulty. Our claim that Macomb County employers have added 1,100 jobs per month is based on statistics

from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which show our County has added 16,801 jobs between January

2011 and March 2012 – an average of 1,120 jobs per month.

It’s Mr. Selweski’s job as a journalist to challenge our numbers. But it’s also his obligation to make sure

his own facts are straight before he takes us to task over ours.

It’s foolish for Mr. Selweski to suggest my administration’s emphasis on marketing the defense industry

may prove futile in light of potential budget cuts in Washington. Should we just sit back and surrender

the foundation that has been built here in Macomb over the past 100 years because of cyclical downturns

in the Defense Department’s budget? We will never surrender a foundation that includes more than 500

defense contractors that employ more than 10,000 workers. We will instead continue to aggressively

promote this industry along with our other world class manufacturing capabilities while working with our

congressional delegation to sustain and expand what we have.

Mr. Selweski further claims Macomb County is “not engaged in the globalization of the world economy” because only 50 foreign-owned firms are based in Macomb (the number is actually 65 and growing). He makes quite a leap and postulates that this means Macomb County will be unable to engage in Michigan’s $51 billion export market.

I wish Mr. Selweski would focus on the major international investment Macomb has secured during 2012: BAE Systems (United Kingdom) spent $54.4 million to open a new building in Sterling Heights, KUKA Robotics (Germany) invested $3 million to move their North American headquarters into Shelby Township, and AGS Automotive (Canada) will spend $21 million to renovate a vacant building in Sterling Heights.

It seems odd that a county with $1.2 billion in new automotive investment, eight Big 3 facilities and over 50,000 automotive employees somehow managed to shy away from the export market. According to the International Trade Administration, “The state's largest merchandise export category is transportation equipment, which accounted for $25 billion of Michigan's total merchandise exports in 2011.”

Maybe they’re referring to bicycles, but I’m guessing it’s the cars the men and women of this county have been building over the last century.

His column also takes issue with Jobbie Nooner and my comments about the event. I understand that this

event is not to his liking, and I respect his position. This opinion however chooses to ignore the estimated

$500,000 that area marinas, gas docks, deli counters and party stores realized from the event last Friday.

It appears the only thing Mr. Selweski did get right is that Macomb County has “a lot to offer.” In partnership with the private sector, our “Make Macomb Your Home’ initiative is designed to tell the region and the world about the great things we do offer – excellent neighborhoods and school systems, tremendous recreational offerings, world-class shopping options and an outstanding workforce and work

ethic.

The reality is that Macomb is now part of the regional dialogue. People are excited about Macomb. The

region’s major media outlets, including WXYZ-TV, WJR radio and the Macomb Daily, have embraced the Stars & Stripes event coming up this weekend. And our economic development department is actively meeting and working with several companies interested in expanding in our county.

My passion for promoting Macomb County will not be deterred by Chad Selweski’s desire to demote it.

As for Big Boy, the readers of YOUR newspaper are on to something. You should really try their delicious buffet sometime, Mr. Selweski.

Mark A. Hackel

Macomb County Executive

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The County Exec also put out a press release today:

Macomb County builds economic momentum, helps lead Michigan's comeback

Bloomberg News analysts have rated Michigan as one of the fastest growing economies in 2011 and 2012 -- and Macomb County is playing a vital role in helping to drive these numbers.
The Macomb County Department of Planning and Economic Development reports that the County’s economy realized an average of 1,120 new jobs per month spanning January 2011 to March 2012.

The 1,120 jobs per month are based on facts provided by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics. In January of 2011, the agency reported there were 343,083 employed workers in Macomb County. As of March 2012, there were 359,884. In those 15 months of January 2011 to March 2012, the County gained 16,801 jobs, which is an average of 1,120 per month.
"As the economic outlook continues to improve nationally, our talented labor force is in high demand, and that is driving a faster recovery in Michigan,” said Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel.

                                  *****

I still dispute a number of Hackel’s assertions, particularly on jobs figures and exports, but I wanted to give him his say. As for his statement about the Big Boy buffet, I suspect he’s playing to his political base.

(If you want to read the column that stirred all this up, check out the list of previous posts on the right side of this page.)