Upper Peninsula Collaborative Development Council
Posted by Amy Clickner on September 16, 2011
In an effort to enhance collaboration and regionalization in partnership with the economic development organizations (EDO) they serve, the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) has created the Collaborative Development Council (CDC). The state is broken into 10 regions in which the U.P. is Region 1. EDOs in each region have been selected to assist in leading this effort. The Lake Superior Community Partnership has the honor of representing the Upper Peninsula on the CDC and I spend time travelling to Lansing monthly for these sessions.
Regionalization and collaboration has become the priority for the Governor and the MEDC, and the CDC was created with the purpose of providing strategic direction for economic development organizations that provide business retention, expansion and retraction services on a daily basis. It also serves as a vehicle for local economic development agencies to provide programmatic input to the MEDC senior leadership team.
This working group is intended to help advance the state of Michigan’s economic development through strengthening the relationships, leveraging the assets and improving the flow of communication, as well as project management between the MEDC and local partners. The new alignment of resource providers eliminates the duplication of efforts, and allows for a more effective and efficient access to resources. For the U.P., this has meant additional resources for an area that has historically been under-served.
With the strategic direction set forth by the LSCP board, our certified economic developers and staff have worked diligently with the MEDC over the years, and have built quality relationships with the state agency by working together on the nitty-gritty economic development. The LSCP is proud to have been chosen to be the liaison between the MEDC and those who work in business retention, expansion, attraction and entrepreneurship across all 15 U.P. counties.
As part of my role on the CDC, I call on my peers in the other 14 counties for input and collaboration. On a monthly basis, the Upper Peninsula Collaborative Development Council (UPCDC), which consists of economic developers from across the U.P., meet to discuss the needs and concerns at a local level, what’s happening at the state level and how to align with the efforts of the MEDC. Talk about a vibrant group of professionals who believe in what they do for their communities. The variety of expertise at the table is outstanding.
Current projects of the Upper Peninsula Collaborative Development Council include the state wide use of Salesforce, which is an economic development software program designed to track retention and expansion projects. Getting all economic developers to use the same system will allow the MEDC to track projects throughout the state and efficiently align resources and services for each circumstance.
The UPCDC is also adopting the Location One Information System sites and buildings program currently being used by the LSCP. This will allow for enhanced site selection opportunities for all locations across the Upper Peninsula, large or small. Other projects include a shared marketing portal, professional development grant, creating an exporting system to grow and develop U.P. wide legislative advocacy goals. A new staff member will be housed at the LSCP office in Marquette, but will travel from county to county to help coordinate and implement some of these region wide efforts. This shared staff resource is a grant funded position that will benefit all 15 EDOs across the U.P.
Stay tuned to find out how your local economic developers continue to work together for the benefit of the whole Upper Peninsula. To learn more about the MEDC Collaborative Development Council, visit www.michiganadvantage.org/collaborative-development-council or call the Lake Superior Community Partnership office at 226-6591.
