U.P. tour helps historical communities build a stronger economic future

To expand its ongoing Local Economies work, the Michigan Municipal League headed north to tour four communities in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula: Forsyth Township, Gladstone, Ishpeming, and Manistique.

“The League is a statewide organization. We want to make sure that all of our members across the state have access to the tools and resources that The League has to offer,” says Helen Johnson, president, Michigan Municipal League Foundation. “It was a unique and wonderful opportunity for us to get out of the Lower Peninsula.”

From Monday April 20 through Thursday April 23, The League team spent a day in each of the four municipalities, starting the day with a small business coffee hour.

“We invited local small businesses, focusing on the micro-businesses with 10 employees or less,” says Shanna Draheim, The League’s director of Policy Research Labs. “Our team met just with them so we were able to have frank conversations with them about their experiences in either opening or growing their small business in that community.”

Conversations centered on both what the community was doing well and challenges –– local policies, zoning, access to capital. Next, the team toured small businesses within the community.

“We looked at historical landmarks that they might be able to leverage, places where events took place, businesses that used to be there that aren’t there anymore –– anything that we could identify as an asset for storytelling or potential business opportunities,” Johnson says. “We also talked about the community, who lives there and visits there, and the lay of the land as a physical space that people inhabit. Immersing ourselves physically in the place really allowed us to get a picture of each community.”

In the afternoons, the team met with elected and appointed officials as well as other stakeholders: Downtown development authorities, the local chamber of commerce, Kiwanis Club and Rotary members, local banks, and school district administrators.

On Friday April 24, a convening brought together the four municipalities and about a dozen other stakeholders from throughout the central U.P., the state of Michigan, and nonprofit partners.

“These are a lot of the organizations that provide services and support to municipalities and local businesses –– small businesses, micro businesses, entrepreneurs –– everything from advising to capital pipelines,” Johnson says. “Not all of the communities were tapped into those partnerships and those resources. We were able to bring them together during that meeting so they could have face-to-face conversations.”

Forsyth Township’s strength is its people

The tour started in Forsyth Township at Gwinn, one of several unincorporated communities within the township. Roughly 7,000 township residents populate its vast 150 square miles of amply forested area. Centrally located in the U.P.’s Marquette County, Forsyth Township encompasses Gwinn, Sawyer, and Little Lake. 

For 40 years, the K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base brought economic opportunity to the township and its communities. But when the base closed in 1995, the area lost more than 4,500 jobs and 14,000 residents with a military payroll of more than $100 million per year.

“Our challenges include geography, population, location, and infrastructure,” says Alan Cook, executive director of Forsyth Forward. “We have the old Air Force base with blighted buildings that are degrading and have not been in use for many, many years. There are also opportunities. We have tax abatements in place and opportunities to purchase properties and lease properties. So there is great potential.”

Forsyth Township lacks funding for infrastructure like needed road upgrades. Limited electric power precludes bigger industries from operating in the area. However, the area is ripe for small businesses, entrepreneurs, and start-ups, especially in the tourism and recreation sectors. 

“The township’s strengths are its people, the resilience of the community, and community support. We have a very strong volunteerism network,” Cook says. “Another huge strength is our recreational assets. We have recreational tourism opportunities, a big part of our economy, that require more development to bring in dollars — small businesses like outfitters, and tour guides.”

Forsyth Forward “plugs into” those small businesses and helps them succeed by performing the roles of a chamber of commerce, convention and visitors bureau, and downtown development authority. Cook founded the hybrid organization to give area small businesses and entrepreneurs direction and connection to resources. 

“The Forsyth Forward website speaks to residents. It speaks to businesses. It speaks to economic development. It speaks to why you would want to visit or move here,” Cook says.

On May 13, Forsyth Forward’s first small business summit drew 50 people from multiple small businesses.

“We brought in all of the community partners that offer guidance and assistance to small businesses, like Michigan Works and Lake Superior Community Partnership, InvestUP, and Innovate Marquette,” Cook says. “We’re the conduit that makes that happen between the township and the small business community.”

To promote those new small businesses in the recreation sector, Forsyth Forward is developing a new brand, Explore Our Wild, which positions the area as “Your U.P. Adventure Basecamp.”

“We’re centrally located in the heart of where everything’s going on,” Cook says. “We’ve got transportation. We’ve got location. You can get to Escanaba or Marquette in 50 minutes.”

More collaboration coming

Cook is looking forward to receiving The League’s feedback on how Forsyth Township and the communities it encompasses can address their challenges and leverage their strengths.  

“They will have some suggestions that we will be able to directly initiate,” Cook says. “Small businesses and entrepreneurs are the backbone of every rural community, especially our township. We rely on these small businesses to succeed and thrive. We have to encourage development of those businesses and help them succeed.”

The team from The League agrees.

“These communities are incredible. Their biggest asset is their people. They have great stories. They have great history,” Johnson says. “Every community in Michigan is doing something interesting and something successful –– sometimes they don’t even realize it. We point that out to them and say, ‘Nobody else is doing this. This is a story that needs to be told.'”  

Photos by Tom Buchkoe.
Alan Cook and Forsyth Township photos courtesy Forsyth Forward.

This story is made possible with funding from the Michigan Municipal League Foundation, a nonprofit association dedicated to making Michigan’s communities better by thoughtfully innovating programs, energetically connecting ideas and people, actively serving members with resources and services, and passionately inspiring positive change for Michigan’s greatest centers of potential: its communities.