From left, Vicky Rowinski, director of Macomb County’s Department of Planning & Economic Development; Brian Parthum, an economist with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments; Thomas Alongi, a partner with the UHY accounting firm; and Ahmad Ezzeddine, vice president for Academic Student Affairs and Global Engagement at Wayne State University, discuss the current state of the economy.
By: Maria Allard | C&G Newspapers | Published February 26, 2024
MACOMB COUNTY — Although inflation has decreased in recent months, “I don’t know if we’re out of the woods,” said Thomas Alongi, a partner with the UHY accounting firm, in Sterling Heights.
“Everything you touch, everywhere you go, prices are up 10% or 20% on everything,” Alongi said. “It’s come down, but maybe the damage has been done. We’ll see if we are able to keep that in check with fiscal spending.”
According to the website usinflationcalculator.com, inflation was at 6.5% in 2022 and 3.4% in 2023.
Alongi was among the panelists who spoke to business leaders, manufacturing employees and school officials at the 2024 Macomb County Economic Forecast, held Feb. 23 on the South Campus of Macomb Community College.
The panel also included Ahmad Ezzeddine, vice president for Academic Student Affairs and Global Engagement at Wayne State University; Brian Parthum, an economist with the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments; and Vicky Rowinski, director of Macomb County’s Department of Planning & Economic Development.
Through PowerPoint presentations displayed on two large screens, the panelists shared their knowledge and research. Much of the discussion centered on Macomb County. The Macomb County Chamber Alliance hosted the event.
“Despite all the news we get every year, some of it is not that rosy, there are always great things happening. Things are happening in the county, in the region, they’re happening in the state,” Ezzeddine said. “This is an opportunity for us to see how we can all work together and move on.”
Ezzeddine, who moderated the event, would like to see WSU and MCC collaborate more with local businesses.
“We have great programs that start at Macomb Community College and finish with us,” Ezzeddine said. “Both institutions are very open and interested in partnering with all of you in the room here.”
As a member of UHY’s audit and assurance department, Alongi advises public and private clients regarding their finances and operations. Alongi specified the economy’s success rests on growing and attracting knowledge. Last year, Alongi predicted the economy would be like a rollercoaster, but it ended up more like a merry-go-round.
“The data that we presented showed a mixed bag,” he said. “It shows how resilient our economy is. We’re really excited we were able to drive through that. How did we make our way through that? The reality is that consumers were resilient. Demand could not be broken. It ties into a strong fiscal spending.
“We have some excess inventories to work off. When I look at ’24 and from what I have seen with our clients, backlogs are strong, releases are strong. We have more job openings than we have individuals,” Alongi said. “The data is showing a kind of return to normalcy this year. Manufacturing, every report I see is that employment is up and opportunities are up.”
Alongi indicated colleges and businesses owners need to come together.
“I want to see more collaboration of industry with the schools and you’re seeing some of it,” Alongi said. “The skills that are needed today will be different than the skills of tomorrow. When I look at 2024, we have more job openings than individuals.”
Parthum, who has studied economic trends in southeast Michigan since 1999, talked about electric vehicles. He said auto manufacturing is “critically important” and advised a dual growth strategy.
“It’s important that we, as economic developers, continue to help the automotive manufacturing in our region. It’s critically important to help them to continue the rapid change that is happening in the industry,” Parthum said. “At the same time, continue to diversify your economy and leverage those knowledge-based jobs. Professional and technical services, financial activities, management of companies and information. These are jobs that mostly require a bachelor degree or more.”
He also said the county gained 24,000 jobs in the last three years.
“I’m not saying that’s going to continue three years into the future, but it’s really encouraging,” Parthum said. “When I looked at those numbers, what was actually growing were the knowledge-based jobs, information, financial activities, professional services and management of companies all combined added 15,000 to 16,000 jobs of those 24,000 jobs.”
With “some funding through the state of Michigan,” Rowinski said she and her team have been conducting a “talent attraction” campaign in an effort to attract people from out of state to Macomb County.
“We’ve looked at top engineering colleges throughout the country and which of those colleges are actually producing more engineers, more professional severe degree individuals than there are jobs available in that area,” Rowinski said. “We also pulled together a roundtable with some of our business leaders that represent the aerospace industry.”
Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, who provided the welcoming remarks, shared his thoughts on Macomb County’s manufacturing future. He said there are 1,600 manufacturing facilities in the county.
“I think our biggest challenge is making sure that we’re providing the talent for these facilities,” Hackel said. “That seems to be the void right now. How do we find people for the jobs that are available in manufacturing.”
“We knew the ‘silver tsunami’ was happening. This is looking at the number of seniors that are hitting retirement age,” Rowinski said. “Our youth, our Gen Xs, our millennials do not meet the number of retirees that are hitting 55 and up age.”