Major Employers Are Stable
Posted by Amy Clickner on March 9, 2012
It’s been a busy and exciting week in Marquette County, with positive news coming from Marquette General Hospital and Cliffs Natural Resources. It’s not often that we have two major events regarding major employers within 24 hours.
Earlier this year, Marquette General Hospital (MGH) announced that they were exploring opportunities to partner with health care organizations from outside of the Upper Peninsula. According to MGH officials, the goal was to gain additional capital to expand services. After considering 10 proposals and interviewing five different companies, a memorandum of understanding was signed this week between MGH and by Duke LifePoint Healthcare.
Duke LifePoint Healthcare is a joint venture of Duke University Health System, one of the country’s leading academic health systems, and LifePoint Hospitals, a leading hospital system with 53 hospital campuses across the U.S. According to their website dukelifepointhealthcare.com, they combined forces because of their shared interest in collaborating with hospitals, healthcare providers and patients to bring high quality, innovative healthcare services to communities.
For our community, the prospect of Duke LifePoint acquiring MGH means an opportunity for higher quality healthcare, financial stability and capital investment for the Upper Peninsula’s largest employer. The acquisition would also mean that MGH will transition from a non-profit to a for-profit healthcare facility, which means more tax revenue for the city and county of Marquette.
More good news of local economic stability came during last week’s annual community update from Cliffs Natural Resources. Coming off one of Cliffs’ strongest years in history with $6.8 billion in revenue, acquiring new operations in Canada and being included in the Fortune 500 and Barron’s 500 Top Companies list in 2011, Cliffs projects 2012 will bring even more growth globally. Increased demand for steel from developing nations is expected to keep Cliffs’ operations strong and diversified, with their North American operations solid.
In their presentation, Cliffs Executive Vice President and President-Global Commercial Don Gallagher highlighted company sustainability as one of Cliffs’ main objectives moving into 2012. Gallagher explained that they will incorporate sustainability into training and professional development, as well as continue to emphasize environmental performance. Of course, the Empire Mine remains one of the top local concerns. While Cliffs still looks for ways to extend the lifespan of the Empire, Cliffs remains strong and we can expect the jobs at the Tilden to continue to be an important part of our economy years to come.
With two of our area’s largest employers both announcing positive news in the same week, it looks as though 2012 is shaping up to be a positive economic year!
To learn more about the Lake Superior Community Partnership, visit marquette.org or call 906-226-6591.
