The Regional Prosperity Initiative (RPI) was established by Gov. Rick Snyder and the state legislature in 2014 to encourage local partners to create vibrant regional economies. The RPI is a voluntary program, developed to recognize the fact that many Michigan regions and their myriad of planning and service delivery entities have overlapping responsibilities and lack a shared vision for economic prosperity. The program is intended to help regional partners come together to identify a common vision and identify ways to reduce redundancies and gaps in service delivery within their regions.
A consortium of public, private, and nonprofit organizations in the six-county Prosperity Region 9 (Hillsdale, Jackson, Lenawee, Livingston, Monroe, and Washtenaw Counties) were awarded RPI grant funds to create this five-year prosperity strategy in support of building relationships and working together to enhance economic prosperity in the region.