Brooks Patterson took the stage Wednesday evening to deliver his annual State of Oakland County address. Brooks Patterson's 2012 State of the County address took place at the Centerpoint Marriot and carried live by WDET.

I had a chance to tune in to listen to the annual L. Brooks Patterson speech. Here are some of the highlights...

L. Brooks Patterson kicked off his State of Oakland County address by discussing Oakland County's "Elite 40 Under 40" program and how he started the program to ensure Oakland County remains stabilized with young, entrepreneurial talent to lead Oakland County in the future.

Brooks Patterson recognized many in attendance including Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel and other dignitaries.

Brooks Patterson kicked off the bulk of his discussion with focusing on Oakland County's economy and Patterson's initiatives to keep the Oakland County in prosperity. Brooks credited the county's recent success and triple-A Wall Street Rating to diversifying Oakland County's economic base. Diversification included splitting funds dedicated to the automotive industry to industries like new technology. This effort retained 10,000 jobs. The AAA-Bond rating credits Oakland County's emerging sectors for its ability to hold the high rating.

Brooks Patterson claims he is especially impressed with the Health and Life Sciences Growth (Medical Mainstreet) in Oakland County. "This is the strongest and fastest growing sector in Oakland County." Brooks announced that the Royal Park Hotel will host a national conference this fall to highlight Medical Mainstreet.

Brooks Patterson continued to extol the virtues of the health field growth in Oakland County by recognizing Oakland University's William Beaumont School of Medicine. When the medical school at Oakland University reaches full fruition, he estimates the economic impact will mean a 3 billion dollar growth for the region.

Patterson then discussed the continued growth of his baby, Automation Alley. Brooks Patterson states that SE Michigan "has the highest number of advanced automotive industry jobs" in the country. "We need to market Automation Alley to the nation and the rest of the world to help us out of this recession."

Brooks Patterson then talked about the Main Street Oakland County initiative (started in 2000). The Main Street Oakland County program is to preserve downtown heritage throughout Oakland County communities. Current Mainstreet Oakland County Communities include: Farmington, Ferndale, Franklin, Highland, Holly, Lake Orion, Ortonville, Oxford, Pontiac, Rochester and Walled Lake.

Patterson stated that the combination of the above mentioned programs were able to help Oakland County dodge many financial problems that exist in other parts of Michigan. Patterson credits his team for having the foresight to begin such initiatives as Main Street Oakland County, Medical Mainstreet and Automation Alley long before Michigan's financial woes set in.

Brooks Patterson says the new terminal at the Oakland County International Airport has been the "gateway to Oakland County" and enabled growth in Oakland County through tough times.

Patterson credits Oakland County's fund surplus to careful planning when it comes to Oakland County's AAA Wall Street bond rating. While Brooks acknowledged significant budget cuts through recent years, he acknowledged many on his staff who have had to endure reduced budgets and promised "no more budget cuts between now and 2015".

While on the topic of budget cuts, Brooks Patterson discussed a program to manage health care costs within Oakland County. OakFit enables Oakland County to save money by having county employees in health screening processes and to stave off health concerns enabling the employee to remain active and healthy. Health care costs dropped for Oakland County by 1 million dollars thanks to OakFit according to Patterson.

Brooks Patterson discussed many of Oakland County's successful events. Events discussed included the Brooksie Way Half Marathon, Arts Beats and Eats, Quake on the Lake, Oakland Edge Hockey Tournament, Uptown Film Festival, Fire and Ice Festival and more. Brooks Patterson then announced his next quality of life event, The MI Great Artist Online Art Contest, due to launch soon. Prizes will be a $2000 cash award and the winner design the artwork for future Oakland County events.

Per usual, Patterson heaped large portions of credit to his staff for the success of Oakland County through the years. Patterson reminded guests that he would be seeking re-election for the position of County Executive of Oakland County.

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