Saginaw's State of the Community Addresses Unity, ARPA, COVID

Mayor Moore sharing this year’s graphic design for the City of Saginaw (photo- Saginaw County Chamber of Commerce; Facebook LIVE)

2021 was a year of unity and hard work according to Saginaw Mayor Brenda Moore in her virtual State of the City address.

Noting the immense impact the community had by coming together after an outbreak of violent crimes last summer; Mayor Moore says hard work by the Saginaw Police and Fire departments should not be forgotten.

Looking ahead to 2022, Mayor Moore says the City can expect work to ramp up on allocation of the $52 Million in American Rescue Plan Act funds- with several professional financial opinions already taken and its newly created advisory committee fully appointed as of city council’s last gathering.

On the matter of business support; the Mayor shared that the launch of the Michigan Survival Grant program Michigan Economic Development Corporation provided over $400,000 to 53 Saginaw businesses experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19, allowing more than 300 jobs to be either retained or re-established in the city

Work by the Saginaw Economic Development Corporation in 2021 was also put under a spotlight.

Mayor Moore said the SEDC team was crucial in providing local entrepreneurs and small business owners the tools to grow and expand.

Over the past year, the SEDC provided $300,000 in forgivable loans, opportunities for networking, education, expansion and investment, and over $300,000 in new loans to existing businesses, startups, and expanding businesses in addition to.

Another area the Mayor says residents can expect improvement on in 2022 is local infrastructure, after projects citywide and the equipment to do them were approved by council last year.

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Saginaw County is looking ahead to the completion of several projects throughout 2022 as well.

In the virtual State of the County address, County Board of Commissioners Chair Carl Ruth outlined some of those projects, including:

construction of the new Animal Care and Control facility in Kochville Township
capital upgrades to the Dow Event Center
improvements to parks and trails around the county
more new trail construction starting in Zilwaukee this summer and fall.
and Haithco Park receiving upgrades including a new playground, splash pad, and improved accessibility.

Ruth also lauded the County health department’s work over the past year.

During his presentation he praised the efforts of the department, saying the department was responsible for non-stop guidance to schools, businesses and the public.

He says dealing with the pandemic for the second year in a row, the department has had to manage ever changing information and guidelines from state and federal health officials, all while keeping track of COVID-19’s peaks and surges and trying to get the residents to get vaccinated and wear masks.

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For the full-length Facebook Live video of this year’s State of the Community Click Here

For the Youtube video of the City of Saginaw State of the City address Click Here