Getting ready for our annual meeting
Posted by Lake Superior Community Partnership on February 15, 2016
It is that time of year again, our Annual Meeting. This is when we invite all of our stakeholders together to hear what we have been up to over the past year as well as celebrate businesses who have added new jobs. This year, we welcome Birgit Klohs, President and CEO of the The Right Place in Grand Rapids, for an insightful discussion on economic development. She will reiterate the importance of regional economic development as well as supporting the basics such as a solid business retention and expansion program. The Annual Meeting will be held tomorrow at 8.a.m. at Marquette Cinemas. If you are interested in attending, please give our office a call (906.226.6591) to register.
So now you’re wondering how we did in 2015? First, I want to start with a huge thank you! Without the support of our partners and the community, our team would not possess the expertise and resources required to provide critical business development services. Last year, our team served 464 businesses! A new record! These clients received a variety of services including general business consulting, business financing, business plan development, site location services, marketing assistance, talent development, technical assistance and advocacy.
Geographically, they were spread throughout the county with 44 from the southern part of the county, 276 in the city of Marquette, Marquette Township and Chocolay Township and 61 on the west end. Many of our clients are working to create jobs. Of the clients we worked with, 372 jobs are projected (jobs expected to become available in the next 12 months), 15,875 were impacted and 110 were retained (jobs that were in danger of being lost, but were able to be retained).
All businesses who added new fulltime positions last year will be recognized through our Plus One program at tomorrow’s meeting. We will celebrate over 50 businesses who have in total added over 200 jobs. We value their choice to invest here.
The LSCP provides support and staff to the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) of Marquette County, who holds and administers a revolving loan fund to provide capital to businesses not served by traditional lending sources. In 2015, the EDC served 9 clients, supported 329 jobs and distributed $1,015,000 in loan funds.
Talent was a big focus for our staff last year because it was important to our partners and clients. We implemented a few new programs including Career Jump Start, handsonmichigan.com, the explore careers section on our website and our talent newsletter. We also continued our job of the week feature to assist partners in filling positions. Our foundation assisted with the spring career fair, Electrical Line Technician School and the Career Technical Education committee. For more information, visit our website (marquette.org) and go to “Working Here” under “Live & Work.”
On the government relations front we accomplished a lot as well. We adopted our policy agenda that focuses on regulatory, infrastructure and talent. Our staff spent time with key staff and legislators in Lansing. The Marquette County Ambassadors held their annual spring trip, including colleagues from six U.P. counties, holding 26 meetings in two days. The ambassadors also added a fall trip where they held 13 meetings. Look out for a federal policy agenda coming in 2016!
We hope you’re able to attend tomorrow to see our full presentation, hear from Birgit and help us celebrate the Plus One recipients. Stay tuned for our Annual Report available on our website (marquette.org) and in our office this week.
Amy Clickner, CEO, writes a bi-weekly column for the Mining Journal.
