Small grant could have big impact on eastern U.P.

If you've ever felt the frustration of driving six hours through an Upper Peninsula blizzard to attend a two-hour meeting, you may find this information useful.

Thanks to a successful bid by the EUP Regional Planning and Development Commission, high-definition video conferencing equipment will be on its way to the Sault Ste. Marie office of Michigan Works. The high tech equipment will be available to both the public and private sectors, says Jeff Hagan, director of the commission. "Our goal is to not have to drive more than an hour to get to a meeting," says Hagen.

This is only one example of the way the grant, which totals $155,330, will be used in the future for economic development across the region, according to Hagen. It will also be used to help improve efficiencies, cut costs and ultimately spur economic growth for the region.

"We'll bring on one additional staff person to handle economic development," says Hagen. This person will help economic developers in the tri-counties of Chippewa, Mackinac, and Luce, who currently have directors who are like lone cowboys out on the range; that is, working alone or with a small staff.

"This is new for us," says Hagen. "It is really cool for our region to get the economic development person on the ground to help with our local EDOs (economic development organizations)."

Funding for the new position will be sustained by the elimination of a position at Michigan Works when long-time administrator Gwen Worley retires in October. The plan is to put Hagen in charge of both Michigan Works and the planning development commission.

The new role is a way for economic development in the region to operate in a leaner and more efficient fashion, says Worley, who has been with the agency for 35 years. She started back in the days of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act, better known as "CETA." CETA was a program during the Nixon era that helped thousands of young people enter the workforce in meaningful jobs.

In these days of cost-cutting and improving efficiencies, the idea of the grant, which was offered by Governor Snyder's office, is to streamline economic development organizations, improve efficiencies, and work off of a single plan.

"We like to streamline to have one plan to hang our hat on," says Hagen.
  
The EUPRPDC took the lead in seeking Snyder's Regional Prosperity Initiative, also known as the "prosperity grant." The governor's initiative is based on the idea that local citizens and their leaders can best determine the future of regional economies, the opposite of centralized government.

The initiative and grant monies will provide resources for regional private, public and nonprofit leaders to hash out the direction and steps they wish to take together to meet their goals for economic development.

The grant award only requires that multiple organizations "collaborate in the best interest of the region." The commission is well positioned to do just that as it has a history of working in conjunction with area partners and has garnered the input of the EUP Michigan Works office, county and city economic development agencies, and others in the public and private sectors.

"We are excited to bring private and public stakeholders together through this initiative," says Hagen. "The Regional Planning Commission has already identified several economic development strategies that will be utilized in the creation of a unified, five-year plan for the region that has broad-based support."

Neil Moran is a freelance writer in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. You can find him on Twitter at @moranwrite.