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Sanilac County EDC director outlines 2025 priorities including childcare grants and blight demolition
Summary
Samantha Schnettler, director of the regional Economic Development Corporation, told commissioners the EDC is pursuing a regional childcare coordinator grant, running talent-attraction campaigns and using a $500,000 state grant to demolish four blighted properties with one rehabilitation slated for completion in 2026.
Samantha Schnettler, director of the regional Economic Development Corporation serving Sanilac County, reviewed the EDC’s 2024 accomplishments and 2025 priorities during the March 18 board meeting. She said the office sent informational letters to 1,625 employers about childcare programs and has submitted a regional grant application to hire a community programs coordinator; the board was told it will learn the outcome of that application in May.
"My office shared this directly with employers across the region and across Sanilac County in 2 ways," Schnettler said, describing roundtable luncheons and the employer mailings. She told commissioners the EDC helped form a three-county childcare planning coalition and produced a Thumb Area childcare action plan focused on engaging employers and reducing cost barriers for families.
Schnettler also discussed land-bank activity tied to the county master plan. She said the EDC and the Sanilac County Land Bank Authority are working with a roughly $500,000 state grant to eliminate blight: "Through these dollars, the Sanilac County Land Bank Authority ... is demolishing four blighted properties across the county and rehabilitating one property," she said, adding that two demolitions are likely to occur this week and the Brown City rehabilitation is expected to be completed in 2026.
The presentation covered workforce and site-preparation work as well: Schnettler said the EDC received $204,746 from the state for strategic site-readiness to catalog available properties and assemble supporting infrastructure data. On talent attraction, she said targeted advertising in 2025 will focus on recent graduates at SVSU and Grand Valley State University to bring ‘‘boomerang’’ residents back to the region.
Commissioners asked follow-up questions about the master plan and a local startup that recently won an EPA award; Schnettler offered supplemental materials and follow-up contacts. She emphasized the red‑tape necessary to steward state and federal dollars and said the EDC will continue to coordinate with local municipalities and staff.
