Year end nears, LSCP busy as ever
Posted by Lake Superior Community Partnership on October 24, 2016
As we near the end of 2016, the LSCP remains busy as ever. I thought I’d take this column to give you a run down on what we have been up to and have coming up for the remainder of the year.
We are super excited for this Thursday, October 27 as we launch our first ever Business to Business Expo and Workshop! We will welcome keynote speaker, Deb Muchmore, Partner, Kandler Reed Khoury & Muchmore, who will discuss her reputation management approach as well as the importance of listening and communicating during a crisis, making sure corporate actions align with words, handling tough media interviews and public appearances, and the importance of clear guiding principles for organizations of every size. The event will also feature a presentation on Pure Michigan Business Connect (PMBC), a B2B platform that helps connect businesses throughout the state and eight breakout sessions with topics targeted toward local businesses. So far, forty businesses will have expo space during the Business After Hours portion from 3 until 6 p.m. which will include plenty of networking as well as fantastic prizes. Your business could walk away with a $2500 advertising package from TV6/FOXUP! There is still time to register by visiting www.marquette.org or calling 906.226.6591!
On the legislation front, the Government Relations Task Force met last week and reviewed several pieces of legislation that are working their way through the process. One in particular, introduced by Senator Horn, deals with an additional economic development tool referred to as Transitional Tax Increment Financing (TIF). This legislation will add another tool to our economic development toolbox for projects over $15 million without impacting current TIF legislation.
We are about to debut a new partner level here at the LSCP. The “Start Up Partner” is designed to help new partners fully utilize all of the business development resources while they are in the startup phase. The level will include waiving of all set-up filing fees, a business book which would include all plans, filings and documents, additional market studies through our Economic Modeling Specialist, Inc. software, specialized training and some additional marketing benefits including eblasts and networking events. The cost of this level is $455 and includes all of the LSCP partner benefits including listing on our business directory, marketing materials in the lobby, access to the key to the county program, eblasts to LSCP partners and much more. Call 906.226.6591 to discuss your new business or idea and how the LSCP can help.
Recently, the Ambassadors made their fall trek to Lansing. This trip is slightly different than the spring trip as it has less meetings, a smaller number of attendees and a much more focused agenda. Twelve of us covered about 22 meetings and hosted a well-attended reception. One of our main goals was to support moving the Dark Store legislation through the Senate. It is critical for this to happen prior to year-end or we start over in 2017. We also discussed mining, the Enbridge pipeline, third grade reading, energy and various economic development incentives. Another successful Lansing trip in the books!
Lastly, a quick update on our third quarter. Year to date we’ve met with 326 clients assisting with site location services, business financing, advocacy, business plan development and more. This means 8,954 jobs impacted, 419 jobs projected and 22 jobs retained. Do you realize in the last 5 years alone we have served 1,659 clients? We don’t see any slowing down in the final quarter of the year.
We hope to see you at our Business to Business Expo and Workshop this week! Remember, if you are not able to attend for the full day, stop by and check out Business After Hours from 3 until 6 p.m.
Amy Clickner, CEO, writes a bi-weekly column for the Mining Journal.
