The Detroit Regional Partnership (DRP) has released an Industrial Development Toolkit, a new resource designed to help municipalities and developers across the 11-county Detroit Region evaluate, prepare for, and guide modern industrial development in a way that reflects each community’s unique priorities.
Built on the foundation of DRP’s Verified Industrial Properties program, which has prepared more than 100 industrial-zoned sites for modern manufacturing across the region, the Toolkit gives local leaders tools, templates, and a practical framework to understand what industrial development looks like today.
It also determines whether a proposed industrial project fits a given community’s goals, where it can plan for it proactively rather than reacting once a project is already at their doorstep.
It also gives developers insight into how municipalities approach the process, helping both sides work from a shared foundation. The Toolkit is one of a set of resources DRP is developing to strengthen community readiness for investment and help local leaders proactively shape growth around their own priorities.
“Every day, local leaders across the Detroit Region make decisions that will shape their communities for decades,” says Justin Robinson, president and CEO of the DRP. “How we use the finite amount of usable industrial land in the region will shape our region’s future and economy.
“As we compete for projects in the Midwest and against regions worldwide that are chasing the next wave of investment, the Detroit Regional Partnership is committed to delivering tools to help our region secure the opportunities that can be a win-win-win for developers, municipalities, and members of their communities.”
The Toolkit responds directly to what DRP has heard from communities — many want the benefits industrial development can bring but lack the tools to attract it and the shared framework for communities and developers to navigate the process together.
DRP developed the Toolkit in partnership with Progressive Companies, a Michigan-based planning and design firm with experience in community and industrial development, through a stakeholder-led process that included 20 in-depth interviews and collaborative sessions with more than 50 municipal officials, developers, utility providers, and economic development practitioners from across the region.
The Toolkit is built for two groups that must work well together for projects to succeed. For local governments, it offers a way to get ahead of change instead of reacting to it, helping communities update master plans and zoning ordinances, understand what modern manufacturing actually looks like, engage residents early, and know what to ask for at the negotiating table.
For developers and site selectors, it offers a roadmap for engaging communities early, communicating transparently, and navigating the local approvals, incentives, and community-benefit conversations that determine whether a project moves forward.
According to DRP, zoning and public perception in many communities have not caught up with the realities of modern manufacturing. Today’s facilities are often cleaner, quieter, and more technologically advanced than the factories many people picture, and outdated assumptions can keep communities from capturing investment that could otherwise strengthen their tax base, fund local services, and create good-paying careers for residents.
To access the full toolkit, click here.
 has released an Industrial Development Toolkit, a new resource designed to help municipalities and developers across the 11-county Detroit Region evaluate, prepare for, and guide modern industrial development in a way that reflects each community’s unique priorities.){kind=link}