Frequently Asked Questions

Commonly asked questions about the A2Success Strategy and how we created it.

What is a Success Strategy and why is one needed?

A success strategy is a long-term plan of action for aligning and focusing leadership and fiscal resources to succeed in a knowledge-based economy.

Despite our great qualities, we are experiencing high unemployment rates and poor economic performance compared to other regions, decreasing tax base and scarce funding for cultural and human services.

If we have a vision of the future and a plan of action to get there, we will realize important regional benefits:

Job opportunities and increased standards of living for our residents
Increased demand for local business products and services
Increased tax revenues and local funding for public services, arts, culture and social needs
Increased wealth as our products and services are sold throughout the world

How was the Strategy developed?

Facilitated by the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners, a group of over 70 community leaders and experts from all sectors (public, not-for-profit and business) held several meetings and workshops to develop the strategy. These leaders and experts identified existing community goals, assessed our assets against other successful regions, and identified the most important actions to take to be successful.

What are the vision and strategies?

The vision is to have the Ann Arbor Region be the place where world changing innovation happens!

The three key strategies are to:

Develop, attract and retain the best and brightest minds
Execute on innovative ideas
Be a place where government, business, not-for-profit and education sectors work together to achieve success

Why is it called the A2Success Strategy?

Ann Arbor has a nationally and internationally recognized brand that speaks to the region’s broader qualities, including quality of place, education and innovation. Leveraging the Ann Arbor name opens up opportunities for business and talent attraction that will benefit the entire Washtenaw County region.

For the purpose of this Strategy, the Ann Arbor Region is defined as the concentration of businesses and jobs in and around Ann Arbor, extending outward to capture the labor and assets of Washtenaw County and the greater Detroit area.

Why a focus on innovation jobs and companies?

In addition to the health care sector, knowledge-based industries show the most promise for the future. The long term forecast shows job growth in innovation/knowledge-based sector to be about twice as fast as other sectors requiring less educated workers. These jobs also pay higher wages. Examples of innovation based jobs include software and hardware, electronics, energy, medical equipment, pharmaceuticals, testing and engineering services, and life sciences.

Isn't this already being done in our community?

There are a lot of great organizations and entities working hard to make our community a great place to live, work and play. This Strategy pulls together many of those disparate activities and provides key objectives that our entire community can focus on achieving. More can be achieved quickly by working together in a focused, defined approach than continuing to pursue worthy goals separately. This Strategy also works to actively promote collaboration of business, non-profit, educational and government resources and leadership.

How will the Strategy be implemented?

Now that we have a draft vision, strategies and actions and a leadership team in place, we will: roll it out to regional boards and committees for their comments and to enlist feedback and participation by other leaders; identify champions, implementation teams and project management resources for specific actions; and report progress annually to the broader community.

There are some key actions and initiatives already underway in the region such as transit expansion and accommodations tax for marketing the region. For these current actions, the Leadership Team will assist in ensuring that champions from business as well as government and not-for-profit are recruited, that project implementation teams and project management is in place, and that specific business plans and metrics are developed.

For new actions to take, the Leadership Team will recruit leadership and project management resources to develop business plans and metrics.

How much will it cost to implement the plan?

Each of the recommended actions will require resources to implement. Some of the actions require mostly human resources (e.g., arts and culture curriculum in schools) while others will require substantial funding (e.g., expanded transit system). Implementation teams will begin developing action plans in early 2009 that will identify the resource needs and sources for each action. The County Board of Commissioners has assigned staff to help facilitate the Leaders Group and Implementation Teams.

How will we know if we are successful?

A critical part of the strategy is developing metrics and reporting progress to the larger community.

On an annual basis, we will measure job growth in innovation companies and jobs, unemployment rates compared to the national average (as a measure of our increased competitive position) and because some of the actions take years to realize, we will track progress on developing our talent, quality of place and economic assets.
Accountability includes reporting our progress at major regional events such as the Chamber of Commerce Impact Event and the Ann Arbor News Outlook Event.

When will there be action items/ workplans around this strategy?

The next step in the A2Success Strategy, kicking off in November 2008, is to present it to the community and solicit feedback. By year’s end, we’ll begin soliciting volunteers to develop and execute action plans. The action plans will focus on what we need to do as a community, ensure resources, metrics and accountability.

When will we start to see results?

Beginning in November 2008, champions, implementation teams, project managers will be recruited for each action and business plans will be developed. At the February 2009 Economic Outlook event, action plans and measurement will be presented to the community. Implementation will continue throughout the year and progress will be reported at the annual Impact and Outlook Events.

What are some of the recommended actions to take?

Talent Actions include:

Improved K-12 performance
Creative curriculum in all schools
Expand early college opportunities
Develop a young professionals network
Develop our 3^rd place capacity
Expanding the region’s transit system
Support state transportation efforts
Housing development in the urban core
Promote and welcome diversity
Coordinated marketing of the region

Execution Actions include:

Develop a strong pool of C-level talent to assist start ups
Expand capital and grant opportunities
Perpetuate business incubators in the region
Develop mentorship programs at all levels
Develop a coordinated regional business network
Expand the cultural ambassadors program
Encouraging a wired world

Working together actions include:

Work to increase government efficiency and effectiveness through shared services
Coordinate better health care services for all residents
Partner in the Aerotropolis
Push the creation of East-West and North-South commuter rail lines
Move from the founders effect to centers of critical mass
Play a key role in the development of larger regional and state improvement efforts

How does the A2Success Strategy align with other state and regional initiatives/reports?

The A2Success Strategy actions mirror many of the recommendations of recent state and regional reports:

Michigan Future, Inc (A New Agenda for a New Economy, 2006) - have a culture of learning, entrepreneurship, and diversity; invest in higher education; build attractive places to live (vibrant urban cores, international airports, internet, open space systems); align k-12 education with a knowledge-driven economy; new leadership organized on a regional bases networked together for state action.

Center for Michigan (A New Model for Michigan, 2007 and Michigan's Defining Moment, 2008) – emphasis on education, quality of place, entrepreneurism, government collaboration on services in schools and local government.

The Millennium Project, University of Michigan (A Roadmap to Michigan’s Future: Meeting the Challenge of a Global Knowledge-Driven Economy, 2005) – public investment in knowledge resources to develop a highly educated and innovative workforce; significant investment in laboratories and communication networks; leverage federal and private sector investment; leadership coalition involving government, education and private sector; bolder models of tech transfer.

Detroit Renaissance (Road to Renaissance 2007) – develop a business center (aerotropolis) around the major airports; business accelerators; capital funds; internship programs; post-secondary education; marketing the region.

Arts Alliance ( Washtenaw County Culture Plan 2008 ) - creative (arts and culture) curriculum in our schools to provide the skills many companies are seeking in employees ; increased arts and culture event geared toward young professionals to help retain and attract talent; business training, incubators living/work space and micro loans for artists; marketing what we have both nationally and internationally.

Washtenaw County ( A Comprehensive Plan for Washtenaw County 2004) – infill development, transit system, open space and recreation

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