Contact: Nate Bailey 202-225-5802

A Billion Great Reasons to Invest in Oakland County

	Joe and Brooks

Washington, Apr 9 - Congressman Joe Knollenberg (MI-09) today applauded the news that over $1 billion has been invested in Oakland County as a result of County Executive Brooks Patterson’s Emerging Sectors program.

“This is great news for Oakland County,” said Knollenberg.  “This level of investment is further proof that through hard work and determination, we can turn our economy around.  As I tour business facilities across Oakland County, I see signs of hope and reasons to be optimistic.  Times have undoubtedly been tough, but good news like this shows that jobs are coming to Oakland County.  I’m going to keep doing everything I can at the federal level to ensure we continue to see these kinds of results.”

Knollenberg added, “My congratulations go to Brooks and his team on this job very well done.”

Congressman Knollenberg has worked closely with Patterson on numerous issues, including Emerging Sectors and Automation Alley.  Knollenberg secured $575,000 last year for Oakland Community College to expand the educational collaboration which supports the Emerging Sectors Initiative through the retraining of a highly skilled workforce. He also recently secured funding through the Department of Labor to enable Automation Alley to provide advanced manufacturing training to workers at no cost to them.  Additionally, Congressman Knollenberg is a leading proponent in Congress of the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), a program the administration has attempted to eliminate, that helps small and medium-scale manufacturers grow and compete.

A small business owner, PTA president, homeowner association president, and parish leader, Congressman Joe Knollenberg has been a citizen leader in Oakland County for the better part of three decades. He was first elected to Congress in 1992 and is a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee.