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Despite finishing in the top half of the state, Carl Osentoski of the Huron County Economical Development Corp finds 7.3 percent unemployment unacceptable. "(Nearly) eight percent is an unacceptable level," he said.

But as he pointed out, this is around the same place the county has been at for years. "We are holding about the same. We see some ups and downs periodically, depending on the time of year... but haven't seen dramatic drops or dramatic increases," he said.

"We haven't seen huge decreases like we did when Tower Automotive closed in Sebewaing (in awhile)," added Osentoski.

One reason for the current level is that Huron County is competing against the rest of the state of Michigan, as well other states and other countries for business. "We are seeing the impact of the change of the global economy. Manufacturing is dropping and part of that is global competition, we get competitors from China and some of those Far East countries," Osentoski explained.

He added, "The other piece to that is that manufacturers are getting more productive, so they aren't hiring as many people as they had in the past. Or they have decreased hiring, because they can... do it (work) by automation, robots or those kinds of things."

That is where the EDC steps in and works to find new businesses that can come to the area. But unfortunately, attracting new businesses is a long term process. "Our focus is on base industry, which is manufacturing. We've had discussions with several companies about ethanol facilities in the county and that is an ongoing process," Osentoski said. "(However) all this stuff will take years and that is not easy to hear sometimes."

"One of the things in economic development, it is always long term," he added. "When you see Oakland County sending recruiters over to Sweden and Japan, that is a five or ten year process."

As for things that could have a quicker impact on the local unemployment, Osentoski and his staff are also focusing on entrepreneurship, which is being called "economic gardening."

The point is to get people to develop small businesses locally. Osentoski pointed out that the EDC offers small business counseling, which will help people find local retail space, amongst a host of other things.

While there is uncertainty as to whether that strategy will yield results, Osentoski is sure the answer doesn't lie in bringing in another mainstream business to the area. He said rumors about them coming to the area are heard all the time and the latest one he has heard was about Kroger coming to Bad Axe, which he believes to be untrue.

"There is not a lot of tax incentives or such that we can offer to a business (like that to draw them here). (Instead) we work with existing companies... on a regular basis," he explained.

"We use the 80-20 rule," he added. "Eighty percent of growth will typically come from businesses already in your community."