Conference center, safety ambassadors and housing part of 20-year Jackson County vision plan
By Chloe Miller | cmiller@mlive.com
February 22, 2026
JACKSON COUNTY, MI — Now that the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce has unveiled its 20-year vision plan, its implementation phase can begin.
Drive Jackson aims at attracting and retaining residents in the county, while shaping the area as more than just “Prison City.” The 70-page strategic plan was developed by a 24-person committee, outlining four goal categories and 54 strategies to guide the county through 2045.
Ryan Tarrant, President and CEO of the Chamber and Experience Jackson, said that the strategies involve multiple organizations, rather than a single group. He emphasized that it’s going to take the government, businesses, nonprofits and individuals to “find those places where they can plug in and move the needle.”
The chamber is inviting residents to an informal Drive Jackson coffee hour, where they can get an overview of the plan, learn about next steps and early implementation priorities and ask questions
Events will be held at:
Noon to 1:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20 Callaghan’s Coffee Cafe, 109 S. Main St. in Brooklyn.
7:30 to 9 a.m. Monday, Feb. 23 at Lean Rocket Lab, 133 W. Michigan Ave. in Jackson.
Noon to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 24 at Vito’s Espresso, 7975 Spring Arbor Road in Spring Arbor.
Strategies range from investing in all-season facilities and programming to improving education by addressing non-academic barriers, like mental health and food insecurity.
Here are some of those 54 strategies:
Attract a downtown hotel and conference center
The need for a hotel and conference center is something the Chamber has heard from residents and officials over the last couple years. Tarrant said Jackson is one of the larger cities in Michigan that does not have one.
Jackson has been without one near the downtown area since Sheraton Inn closed at One Jackson Square in 1988. A lack of convention business, fewer corporate travelers and the hotel’s location being too far away from I-94 were cited as reasons for its failure.
Tarrant said a conference center would be an opportunity to bring visitors to the community and host large scale events.
“You can easily seat 500 people, but also you’ve got the hotel attached, which makes it attractive for conferences and business meetings,” Tarrant said.
Community Growth Fellow Alexie Milukhin said she thinks of Little Caesars Arena in Detroit and how it’s laid out, where you go to the arena and immediately leave by the freeway. It doesn’t offer opportunities to stay the night or explore.
“It’s about how do you turn a pass-through place into a place where people have an opportunity to stay the night, have dinner somewhere, maybe have breakfast in the morning and explore,” Milukhin said. “Because if you can’t explore a place, then how do you know that you might want to live there at some point?”
This would also create an opportunity to support small businesses by having a consistent flow of visitors, Tarrant said.
One of the challenges of attracting a hotel or convention center is market stability, as destination marketing organizations like Experience Jackson generally view a 60% annual hotel occupancy as when developers see a community as a viable market, with 65% indicating a strong case for expansion.
Last year, occupancy rates in Jackson was around 59.5% after slowing by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the opening of three new hotels in the area. While tourism is rebounding, Tarrant said developments take years to martialize.
“But, if you don’t start talking about it, it never happens,” Tarrant said.
Create a safety ambassador program for downtown Jackson
Similar to what’s been launched in Columbus, Ohio, ambassadors conduct safety patrols, provide directions, escort downtown workers or visitors to their cars and support local city police departments, according to downtown Columbus’ website. This could enhance downtown Jackson by providing visible support and connecting individuals to local resources.
Milukhin said survey respondents showed strong interest in connecting people to social services and ensuring vulnerable populations have access to resources.
“A lot of people want to make sure that our most vulnerable populations can thrive, and a big part of that is making sure that those resources are forefront, accessible, public and that potentially there are people who are able to connect folks over to those,” Milukhin said.
Now that the plan is released, organizations can begin having conversations on what this could look like, along with identifying items to work on immediately and prioritizing longer-term goals.
“As we talk about that health and public safety goal, it sort of lets people think about the strategies in terms of something that’s actionable somewhere else,” Tarrant said. “It doesn’t mean it has to look exactly like that, that might not be what works.”
Increase housing diversity to meet the needs of all ages and income levels
Goal C of the plan focuses on strengthening housing and economic vitality to ensure residents at all income levels can “live, work and succeed locally,” according to the vision plan.
Currently, there’s a significant number of affordable single-family homes that exist in Jackson, but a gap appears between available affordable housing and resident access to it. Additionally, 80% of the housing stock predates 1990 and 1970, creating challenges with upkeep and livability, Milukhin said.
The results emphasized a need for a more balanced approach that includes new construction, while restoring existing properties to keep them affordable. Milukhin highlights the 100 Homes program as an example for getting people into new builds. However, Jackson needs housing across the board, Tarrant said.
According to the plan, allowing a wider range of housing types, like duplexes, triplexes, accessory dwelling units and tiny homes can increase housing supply. This improves affordability and creates more attainable pathways to homeownership.
The vision plan emphasized supporting affordable housing initiatives, encouraging property maintenance, developing incentives for landlords to rent to residents with previous evictions and to collaborate with Jackson County to activate the land bank to alleviate housing needs.
Source: MLive
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