CHARTER TOWNSHIP OF HIGHLAND
Oakland County, Michigan

Local Economy   
 
Highland Township is largely a bedroom community, with many residents commuting to jobs in eastern Oakland County and the Detroit Metropolitan Area. Employers in the Township only support 6,409 jobs, as opposed to a population of 16,429 persons in the 17 to 65 year age range. The major employer in the Township is the Huron Valley School System, with 877 jobs in 2000 (from Oakland County Planning and Economic Development estimates). The second major employer is Jay Chevrolet., an automobile dealer and service facility.
 
Commercial activity is limited to three small nodes in the Township, providing for mostly local shopping needs, in centers ranging from 12,000 square feet to 80,000 square feet. The lack of sanitary sewer service has discouraged many developers from pursuing more significant developments. There are no "big box" national retail outlets in Highland Township at this time. Colasanti's Produce provides the most unique shopping experience in the Township, selling imported produce and foods, a meat market and wine outlet, as well as green plants and flowers in about 200,000 square feet of retail and greenhouse space.

The most recent development in Highland Township  included redevelopment of 45,000 square feet of commercial space at the corner of Duck Lake Road and M-59, and an 11,000 sauqre foot office/retail development in the Highland Station area (Milford Road, south of M-59). The Highland Downtown Development Authority concentrates its energies largely on the Milford Road corridor and in particular the Highland Station Area to provide planning and business support for redevelopment of the area as a modern day "hamlet".

A summary of the top twenty employers by Standard Industrial Code in 1999 is as follows:

     SIC            Industry                                                         No. of Jobs 
     15             Construction Industries                              30
     32-35       Manufacturing (Concrete/Metals)              360
     42             Trucking                                                         25
     54             Food Stores                                                  132
     55             Automotive Dealers                                     124
     58             Eating and Drinking Places                       80
     59             Miscellaneous Retail                                  49
     79             Recreation Services (Golf Clubs)             114
     82             Educational Services                                  877
     83             Social Services                                            69
 
     TOTAL JOBS IN TOP 20 EMPLOYERS 1860

The Township lost 234 manufacturing jobs in 2007, when Emerson Electric acquired Numatics (then the 2nd largest employer) and relocated the jobs elsewhere.  That facility is currently vacant and reportedly available for purchase.

These findings point to a well-diversified local economy, with representation in a variety of sectors. The population has tended to fair well as far as unemployment rates, at least in comparison to the rest of Oakland County. In 1995, the unemployment rate in Highland Township was 4.0 percent, while it was 3.6 county-wide and 5.3 percent state-wide. In 1999, during a period of vigorous economic growth, the unemployment rate in Highland Township was 2.8 percent, with a county-wide unemployment rate of 2.5 percent, and a state wide average of 3.8 percent. 

However, the community has suffered from the economic downturn in Michigan, as have our neighbors.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a preliminary unemployment rate for Oakland County of 12.9 percent in May 2009.

(revised July 1, 2009)