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Michigan Central, the abandoned railway station turned innovation catalyst thanks to the investments of Ford, last week released an economic impact report that says the 30-acre district’s ongoing operations supported nearly $2.95 billion in statewide economic impact in 2025 and approximately 5,820 total jobs across Michigan, including 1,420 direct jobs at Michigan Central.
The district, a Ford subsidiary, is home to more than 240 companies and has served more than 3,000 adults and youth through talent and workforce programs, the report finds. Annual operational impact is projected to reach approximately $3.2 billion by 2028, with more than 2,500 direct jobs expected at Michigan Central. This week Michigan Central named Awenate Cobbina its new CEO. “What Ford, the city of Detroit and the community have built at Michigan Central is remarkable,” he said. “This district is not only restoring an iconic piece of Detroit and American history, but it is actively creating the future of mobility and economic opportunity right here in Corktown.”
Site Selection has documented the project’s role in Michigan’s overall mobility sector as well as the redevelopment process itself, including a 2021 article that described the placement of an 11,500-pound replica of the station’s original capital stone after more than 400 hours of carving from a 21,000-pound limestone block by John Goodrow Sr., of Capital Stoneworks Inc., in Bridgeport, Michigan. “I start with a solid square block and work from the outside in. You have to see the finished product done in your mind to be able to do it,” Goodrow said then in a Ford release in 2020. “You can either do it or you can’t.”
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