Jackson Chamber hosts ‘Drive Jackson’ community sessions
Sean Graney, WLNS, February 25, 2026
JACKSON, Mich. (WLNS) — The new “Drive Jackson” vision plan for the county’s 20-year future is now taking shape, and officials say the plan is set to touch everything from housing, to community safety, to economic growth.
The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce hosted a community “coffee hour” in Spring Arbor on Tuesday to allow residents to learn more about the initiative and share their feedback on what they would like to see.
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The plan introduces developing strategies for new all-season facilities, programming improving academic barriers to education, and addressing mental health and food insecurity resources.
Community Growth Fellow Alexie Milukhin says success depends on different sectors working toward shared goals.
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“This is, I think the first time, from what I’ve seen, that a strategic plan in this region tries to encompass all of these different priorities and interests,” Milukhin said. “What everybody is working on across health, across safety, across housing, education.”
One of the biggest concerns raised during these discussions was housing. Milukhin says affordability is tied directly to the housing stock the plan seeks to create.
“If all of our housing stock is way, way overbalanced towards very old housing, you can run into a lot of affordability issues and that kind of thing,” Milukhin said. “So, it’s thinking about what programs can we leverage in order to maybe put towards fixing some of that housing stock.”
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Spring Arbor native Caden Lambers points to education as a foundation for long-term success.
“If you have good education, you’re going to have good safety, you’re going to have good community, and you’re going to have good activity because of the kids that bring the rest of that with them in that education,” Lambers said.
As planning moves forward, Milukhin says the focus now turns to identifying specific gaps in the workforce and partnership opportunities to allow for more sustained growth.
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“But we need to make sure that we home in on how we want to target. Where are there gaps in the workforce? What kind of credentials do we need to improve,” Milukhin said. “What kind of different programs can we partner with at the state level?”
Milukhin says the next steps include meeting with the new Drive Jackson Vision Council about the implementation phase, as well as continuing to hose more community engagement sessions across the county.
Source: WLNS 6 News
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Original story: https://www.wlns.com/jackson/jackson-chamber-hosts-drive-jackson-community-sessions/
