Hackel has bragging rights over Patterson on jobs

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel has some bragging rights over his Oakland County counterpart, L. Brooks Patterson, now that Macomb ranks No. 3 in the nation in the number of manufacturing jobs created last year.
According to a study by Headlight Data, a Texas-based data information system company, Macomb enjoyed 3,727 net new manufacturing jobs in 2014.
Oakland County also had a good showing -- 13th in the nation, with 1,928 new blue-collar jobs – but trailed Hackel’s beloved Macomb County. Hackel and Patterson have an ongoing, playful competition in public over who hails from the superior county.

Actually, according to the Detroit Free Press, Wayne County Executive Warren Evans is the man who is lifting his index finger high into the air as Wayne ranked No. 1 in the nation at 4,225 net new jobs, a 5.3 percent increase over 2013.

Evans, who desperately needed some good news as Wayne County slides in a financial mess, said this to the Free Press:
"Wayne County has a long history of being the home to large- and small-scale manufacturers, so it is not surprising to me that we lead the nation in manufacturing jobs.  Our geography makes us an ideal hub for manufacturing, given our proximity to an international border and superior infrastructure assets, such as major railways and convenient highways."

Two west Michigan counties, Kent and Ottawa, also made the top 10, giving Michigan the distinction as the state with the most membership on the list of 2,746 counties nationwide.

The biggest shocker in the rankings was Washtenaw County -- for many years one of Michigan’s healthiest counties from an economic standpoint – which finished near the bottom of the national list. Washtenaw came in at No. 2,710 after losing 633 jobs.