Mayor Mary Sheffield has named a new executive to helm economic development and workforce strategies in Detroit.
Amid a more “conservative” city budget and increasing community concern about affordability and gentrification in Detroit, Olga Stella was appointed as the city’s Chief of Economic Development and Workforce to lead efforts to bolster local businesses, and develop opportunities for residents and new businesses across the city.
Stella, a longtime Detroiter, said the level of investment downtown or in neighborhoods touched by the Strategic Neighborhood Fund has been impressive. But she said there was “more work to be done” related to the dispersal and “economics” of such developments.
“How do you help everyday people who are not real estate developers, who are not trying to figure out how to turn buildings into something understand that, right?,” Stella said following the Sept. 2 announcement. “There’s more work to be done to really be more transparent around, like ‘What do these deals really look like? How do they really work?’”
The five city departments under Stella’s purview include Economic Development, Planning and Development, Housing and Revitalization, Office of Small Business Affairs, and Office of Civil Rights, Inclusion and Opportunity.
She will also coordinate with several partner agencies—Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Detroit Housing Commission, Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation, and Detroit Land Bank Authority—to address issues and developments related to planning, land disposition, small business, neighborhood economic development, job opportunities for Detroiters and more.
Stella is the newest of several chiefs and department heads announced in Sheffield’s first year in office, reflecting her economic and cultural growth priorities. Others include those for health and homelessness, as well as inaugural directors of youth and education and youth affairs.
Stella is also tasked to “help advance major initiatives,” like the Poverty Elimination Plan.
“Olga’s career has been defined by forward-looking leadership, innovation, and creativity, and I know that she will bring that same people-centered and community-focused approach to this administration,” Sheffield said during the Sept. 2 press conference. “I am excited to welcome Olga to our team and to have her help build an economy that creates opportunities for every Detroiter and strengthens every neighborhood.”
Stella assumed her role last week, and her annual salary is $225,000.
Stella has previously led economic development efforts in Detroit. She was appointed as an economic development assistant by former mayor Dennis Archer in 2000, and led a development-related agenda as former State Rep. Steve Tobocman’s chief of staff. She later spent a decade at the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, of which she later became the chief operating officer.
She most recently served as vice president of strategy and communication at the College for Creative Studies (CCS).
