Refocus, Rebrand, Restructure, Results
Posted by Amy Clickner on February 4, 2013
Last Wednesday, we held our first ever combined Annual Meeting and Investor Briefing. We encourage our partners to attend Investor Briefings to find out what we’re up to. This specific meeting focused on all of 2012 and where we’d like to go in the New Year. If you missed the meeting, below are the highlights:
“The only thing constant in life is change,” Francois de la Rochefoucauld. I use this quote by Rochefoucauld often with LSCP staff and board members, and it seems to sum up 2012 very nicely.
In the last year, we have approved and begun implementing a new strategic plan, refocused and rebranded the organization, enhanced our professional credentials, introduced a new tiered investment package and saw the redesign of our staffing structure. All of this in addition to our day to day economic development work that saw an increase in clients and retention visits.
Through the efforts of our strategic plan we have put in place internal and external metrics that keep the organization on track and accountable to our investors. Our economic development activities supported projects in all stages of development that represented the retention of 4,283 jobs and the development of 1,066 new jobs. We provided general business development, retention of existing business, business financing, business plan development, site location services, marketing and advocacy assistance to 265 clients, a 10% increase over 2011. Our Economic Development Corporation loan portfolio served eight clients with over $600,000 in loan proceeds supporting 129 jobs across Marquette County.
In 2012, we welcomed 33 new partners, assisted with 31 ribbon cutting ceremonies and held 22 Business After Hours events. We saw an increase in social media activity including over 1,000 ‘likes’ on Facebook and an increase in blog views. Once again, we worked with the Mining Journal to publish Vision Magazine that is used as a marketing tool for our business development team.
Our Foundation continued to support the Great Start Collaborative, Lake Superior Partners in Education (LSPE), the Lake Superior Leadership Academy (LSLA) and the Electrical Line Technician Program. The LSPE Career Day, led by MARESA in partnership with the LSPE, welcomed 692 students and featured 126 different career path presentations, while the LSLA graduated its 14th class and the Electrical Line Technician Program has graduated 303 students to date.
As we continue to sharpen our focus, we also need to expand our reach which we do in a variety of ways. The LSCP serves as the lead economic development organization for Region 1 for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), staff members serve on the board of directors of the Michigan Economic Developers Association (MEDA) and International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and our inclusion in the Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance for legislative activity all help us move in that direction. In 2012, we were recognized with the Silver Medal Award for a High Performing Economic Development Organization in a community of 25,000-100,000 at the International Economic Development Council Annual Meeting. Our very own Caralee Swanberg was also accredited as a Certified Global Business Professional.
We leverage leadership, connect to legislators and regulators, match innovators with support services and are a focal point for information because we invest in the resources. By creating purpose built networks, institutionalizing relationships and seeking the required knowledge and expertise to perform this work, the LSCP has the foundation needed to achieve the outcomes we share with you.
As you can see we had a very busy 2012 and are proud of the results. We hope you’ll contact us if we can assist you in the New Year. And as always, please let us know if you add any new jobs, we’d love to recognize your company through the Plus One program at next year’s meeting. We’re looking forward to a very productive 2013.
