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Pontiac looked pretty sad back on Jan. 24, 1982, when the Super Bowl was played at the Silverdome. Michigan was in midst of deep recession, and storefronts in downtown Pontiac opened temporarily to capture business from football's grandest spectacle.
Since then, over the years, true comebacks have never fully materialized.
But this feels different.
Last January, the historic Flagstar Strand Theatre for the Performing Arts in downtown Pontiac opened.
Natalie Broda of The Oakland Press reports:
Since then, small businesses and technology companies have joined the Strand downtown. Large corporations, such as United Shore and Williams International, announced plans for big investments into new headquarters. The city was released from financial state oversight and hired a new economic development director.
And all told, 50 new business licenses were issued this year in Pontiac, though the actual number of new businesses to open is likely higher than that.
New business alone isn’t enough to revitalize a city of 60,000 with a 9 percent unemployment rate, but, it is a strong sign that Pontiac’s blossoming comeback story isn’t just a pipe dream.
"We can fill up the spaces, it's easy and natural and it’s happening. A lot more businesses are moving in and expanding. We have passed the tipping point," Kyle Westberg, owner of the Strand and co-owner of West Construction Services in Pontiac along with his brother, Brent Westberg, said.
