Outdoor education plan announced at State of the County

MACOMB COUNTY — Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel announced plans for an outdoor education partnership between the county, the Detroit Zoological Society and Huron-Clinton Metroparks at the State of the County address on Dec. 7.

Announced by video during the event held at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts, the partnership will see Macomb County officials and educators working with the DZS and Metroparks staff to expand the reach of the organizations’ wildlife and nature educational programming.

“We know that, to be truly effective and to be true advocates of the nature that surrounds us, we must broaden our impact and be forward-thinking at every opportunity,” DZS CEO Dr. Hayley Murphy said in the announcement video. “And we cannot do that alone.”

The plans are currently in a preliminary planning phase, with the boards of both DZS and Huron-Clinton Metroparks agreeing to work together to develop what the plan will entail. The previously announced plans for a new nature center have been dropped, with Murphy saying that the DZS has not committed to “building any structures” within Macomb County and that the zoo’s presence will be through the Metroparks and county educational systems.

“Macomb is really a county we want to focus on because we have a presence through the Metroparks in Macomb,” Murphy said in a post-address conference. “The Zoo would like to expand into Macomb, and we really want to look at what the needs are first and how this partnership can answer the needs of the citizens of Macomb.”

Outside of the partnership with DZS and Huron-Clinton Metroparks, Hackel spent the nearly hour-long session reflecting on how the county changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the cancellation of State of the County events in 2020 and 2021. He also spoke about the progress made in the county’s recovery.

Points the recently re-elected county executive focused on include the nearly 50,000 college degrees earned by residents in the past decade, the county’s stable AA+ bond rating, increasing home values and construction projects like the Lakeside Mall Redevelopment, the county’s $67,000 median household income, increasing county population, and the various jobs and employment opportunities within Macomb County.

Hackel also discussed the county’s manufacturing and technology sectors. With Macomb County investing in connected infrastructure projects like Innovate Mound and the deployment of about 300 live traffic cameras on county roads, the county is partnered with General Motors to work on further smart and connected infrastructure projects.

“General Motors has a vision to create a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion,” Hackel said. “Realizing that, each day, more than 50,000 advanced vehicles travel our connected corridors, General Motors found us to be the most comparable place in the United States to test emerging smart vehicle technology. As a result, we are partnering with General Motors to develop a first-of-its-kind road insights tool. Utilizing the county’s intelligent transportation system and data General Motors collects from its vehicle network, this tool will help General Motors to design smarter vehicles and help us provide safer roads.”

Hackel praised the growth of defense and aerospace industry jobs in the township — over 700 contractors based in the county have been awarded more than 10,000 contracts in the last two years — claiming Macomb to be the “defense capital of the Midwest, and soon to become the defense capital of the world, if I have anything to do about it.”

The county’s 400-plus farms were also highlighted.

The address was immediately followed by the Taste of Macomb in the neighboring Lorenzo Cultural Center, where attendees could sample foods from Macomb County restaurants.