Energizing Tuscola’s Economy Through Entrepreneurship

Project Background

By all accounts, the economic status in the State of Michigan has been poor in recent years and Tuscola County is no exception.  The current state of the Tuscola County economy paints a somber picture, consistently lagging behind statewide and national averages in unemployment, household income, population aging and growth, community and economic development activity, educational attainment and foreclosures.

Both the public and private sectors of Tuscola County have struggled with how to pull the regional economy ahead, in spite of those negative factors.  Through a series of related events, several countywide leaders have been meeting since August of 2005 to discuss innovative approaches to “Rebuild Tuscola County Through Entrepreneurship”.  Tuscola County recognizes that a significant portion of new jobs are created by new and existing local businesses, and that new jobs created by local entities are most likely to stay local in this global economy.

This ad hoc committee of county leaders has now been formalized as the Entrepreneurship Task Force for the Tuscola County Economic Development Corporation (EDC) Board of Directors and has carried the banner of entrepreneurial development for over a year now.  Their first project was a major accomplishment in organizing a countywide conference to help local entrepreneurs start, expand, sell and/or buy their business venture.  With nearly 100 attendees, this successful summit concluded with resounding feedback that Tuscola County needed to do more for encouraging entrepreneurialism.

Specifically, a call was made for a sort of ombudsman to provide business counseling services and to assist in navigating the intimidating process of small business.  While the Tuscola County EDC partially serves this function as a Small Business and Technology Development Center (SBTDC), limited time and resources clearly do not meet the demands of this sector of economic development.  The need for additional work in entrepreneurial development was further reinforced by an extensive study completed in 2006 by the Community Assessment Team (CATeam) of Michigan State University Extension (MSU-E).