Olga Stella named Detroit's chief of economic development and workforce

Mayor Mary Sheffield has named Olga Stella as Detroit's new Chief of Economic Development and Workforce, handing a longtime Detroiter the keys to five city departments.

Stella's first day was August 24, and the mayor's office announced the appointment on September 2. The job pays $225,000 a year.

The portfolio is broad. Stella will oversee Economic Development, Planning and Development, the Housing & Revitalization Department, the Office of Small Business Affairs, and the Office of Civil Rights, Inclusion & Opportunity.

Detroiters may already know her work even if they do not know her name. Stella spent a decade at the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, rising to chief operating officer, and the mayor's office credits her with directly contributing to $200 million in investment during one of the city's most turbulent economic periods. She later ran Design Core Detroit, where her signature achievement was stewarding Detroit's designation as the only UNESCO City of Design in the United States.

Her roots in city government run deeper still. Stella worked as an economic development assistant under former Mayor Dennis Archer in 2000 and served as chief of staff to former State Rep. Steve Tobocman. Most recently she was vice president of strategy and communication at the College for Creative Studies.

"Olga knows this city, and she knows that real economic development is measured in the lives it changes," Sheffield said.

The mayor framed the hire around the idea that growth downtown and growth on the blocks are one project. "Detroit's neighborhoods and business community succeed together. Olga will be a key architect in making Detroit the best place in the country to start, grow, and locate a business," Sheffield said.

That pitch lands at a pointed moment. The appointment comes as the city works with a tighter budget and as residents voice growing concern about affordability and the pace of gentrification.

Stella has signaled she hears it, talking about making development legible to everyday residents and not only real estate developers, and saying there is "more work to be done to really be more transparent."

For her part, Stella cast the job as a homecoming. "I am inspired by Mayor Sheffield's vision, and I can't imagine doing this work anywhere but in my own hometown," she said.

The full announcement, including the department list and Stella's biography, is posted on the city's website at detroitmi.gov.