Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson honored 350 Emerging Sector companies responsible for a total investment of $3 billion in the past 11 years on Tuesday, October 13th, 2015. The sky was the limit with business leaders, government officials, and other attendees at the Oakland County International Airport. The companies were celebrated with several corporate jets and vintage cars for touring, along with a vintage 1928 Ford Tri-Motor Airliner on display. Special guest Edsel Ford, the owner of Pentastar Aviation was also in attendance.

The Oakland County Emerging Sectors initiative was launched in 2004 to replace lost manufacturing jobs and attract sustainable, high-paying jobs. By bringing together like industries, this allowed for businesses to collaborate and innovate together. This created a knowledge based economy in Oakland County that has evolved into an area where industries want to be. The Emerging Sectors initiative focus areas include:

• • • Advanced Electronics & Controls
    • Advanced Materials & Chemicals
    • Aerospace
    • Alternative Energy & Power Generation
    • Defense & Homeland Security
    • Film & Digital Media
    • Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
    • IT/Tech
    • Life Sciences & Health Care
    • Robotics & Automation

The 350 companies recognized are transforming and diversifying the region’s economy with more than 57,000 new and retained jobs, and a total investment of $3.2 billion. The Emerging Sectors Program is also broken down into Medical Main Street and Tech248. Medical Main Street is a network of world-renowned hospital systems, universities, health care and life science companies in Southeast Michigan. Tech248 is a new network developed to accelerate growth in Oakland County’s IT and tech industry by connecting innovative companies with talent and each other.

Visit the Advantage Oakland website for more information. Stay connected by following Advantage Oakland on Facebook & Twitter.