Detroit Gets New Economic Development Chief

Olga Stella, a veteran of the economic development scene around metro Detroit, is the city’s new Chief of Economic Development and Workforce.

Stella was appointed by Detroit Mayor Mary Sheffield earlier this month.

According to a release from the city, Stella has spent her career as a leader in economic and business growth, community revitalization, and Detroit‘s creative economy. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Strategy and Communication at the College for Creative Studies, where officials say she “shaped the institution’s strategic roadmap, expanded industry partnerships, and oversaw community programs.”

Her appointment, according to the release, underscores that Sheffield’s residents-first administration is also fully committed to and equipped for major employer and retail attraction and large-scale development.  

Stella will set a shared strategy and align resources so that the full ecosystem operates effectively giving employers and developers a coordinated Detroit.

“Detroit’s neighborhoods and business community succeed together,” Sheffield said. “Olga will be a key architect in making Detroit the best place in the country to start, grow, and locate a business. When businesses thrive here, they create the jobs, opportunity, and stability that Detroit families are counting on.”

Stella is no stranger to the mayor’s office. Appointed by Mayor Dennis Archer in 2000 as Assistant to the Mayor for Economic Development, she went on to spend 10 years at the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC), rising from project manager in charge of industrial, commercial, and residential development, and eventually becoming the organization’s Chief Operating Officer. She also served as Chief of Staff to former State Representative Steve Tobocman, leading his community and economic development legislative agenda primarily in Southwest Detroit.

At DEGC, Stella helped launch Motor City Match and Green Grocer programs, which together have started more than 200 small businesses throughout Detroit’s neighborhoods.  She built a strong business retention and attraction team during one of Detroit’s most turbulent economic periods, directly contributing to $200 million in investment.

As Executive Director of Design Core Detroit, she championed Detroit’s creative industries. Her signature achievement was stewarding Detroit’s designation as the only UNESCO City of Design in the United States.

Raised by immigrant parents, Stella’s work emphasizes inclusive regional growth, human-centered systems design, and building bridges between Detroit’s neighborhoods and its employers. Her impact earned her recognition from American Institute of Architects (AIA) Detroit and Michigan chapters plus a spot on Crain’s Detroit Business’s “40 Under 40” list.

“Olga knows this city, and she knows that real economic development is measured in the lives it changes,” Sheffield said. “She can sit across from a major employer and a first-time small business owner in the same day and be a genuine partner to both and that’s exactly the leadership Detroit needs.” 

Stella will serve as the Administration’s senior executive lead for economic development and workforce strategy. Her portfolio will span core City departments and affiliated entities connected to planning, housing and redevelopment, land disposition, small business, workforce, neighborhood economic development, and transformational economic development

A key priority will be elevating workforce development within the city’s overall economic strategy, so Detroit residents have access to jobs and career paths that support their aspirations. Stella will also help advance major initiatives including the Poverty Elimination Plan and the City’s overall economic development capacity and policy, ensuring the Administration’s investments produce measurable outcomes for residents, neighborhoods, and businesses.   “I am inspired by Mayor Sheffield’s vision, and I can’t imagine doing this work anywhere but in my own hometown,” Stella said. “Detroit has given my family so much and this is a historic moment for the City of Detroit, and I look forward to bringing a different approach to economic development, one that delivers for our neighborhoods and employers alike.”

Link: https://www.corpmagazine.com/industry/business/detroit-gets-new-economic-development-chief/