Redefining the Leelanau Recovery Team

The Leelanau Peninsula Economic Foundation in conjunction with the Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce has proposed the following outline for continuing the Leelanau Recovery Team (LRT) in the near future.

New Name:       Leelanau Business Roundtable (LBRT)

Organizers:      Leelanau Peninsula Economic Foundation

Include representatives from Leelanau Peninsula Chamber of Commerce, all other area Chambers of Commerce as well as the various Townships and community organizations

Mission:              

The purpose of the Leelanau Business Roundtable is to enhance the communication and collaboration between county businesses and organizations surrounding the Key Topics that we face in the county.

Key Topics:         

Key Topics will be identified each year, and changed, if necessary and when appropriate.

1.       Staffing

2.       Workforce Housing

3.       Early Childhood Care

4.       Broadband/Cellular

5.       Transportation

Roundtable:       What are the key issues our businesses are facing?  New information and updates to share.

Modes of Communication:          

Blog – Identify representatives from organizations and Chambers or resources that provide short updates or articles pertaining to each of our identified Key Topics.  Articles will be posted on the LPEF’s Blog

Monthly Newsletters – Send via MailChimp by the 4th Thursday of the month.  The newsletter will consist of short lead-ins for key blog articles with links to the blog to read the full article.

Quarterly Meetings – Second Thursday in the following months via ZOOM

April, July, October, January

 

Discussion:

The above outline was discussed with the participants on the 7/14 Zoom call. 

1.       Be sure that the business community and participants understand that this group is not “just another group” tasking with or trying to solve the problems.  We are facilitating a roundtable discussion to share information and provide updates on key topics that other groups are working to rectify.

2.       The roundtable also provides an environment for business members to share their concerns or key issues their business is facing.  Other participants may be able to offer similar circumstances and solutions. Or new topics may be shared with organizations that are working toward solutions.

3.       Suggestions to brand the new LBRT on Facebook and Instagram so we can promote it to local businesses to share updates and reminders for meetings and monthly newsletters.

4.       The consensus with those on the Zoom meeting was the new direction is a good idea.  Having updates from representatives working on the key topics will be critical.  LPEF and LPCC will work on the list of contacts to update them on this plan and request updates for blog and newsletter content. 

5.       How do we market this to all businesses in the county to encourage them to participate in the quarterly meetings and receive the monthly newsletters?

a.       LE – story

b.       Establish branded Facebook and Instagram pages for LBRT

 

Key Topics Representatives:

  1. Staffing

    1. MI Works! - Scott Howley

    2. Career Tech Center

      1.  Patrick Buron, Placement Coordinator, 231 922-6298 pburon@northwested.org

      2. Dana Venhuizen, Career Specialist, 231 922-6312 dvenhuizen@northwested.org

      3. H2A, H2B to J1 Visa programs – Kevin Benson (Networks Northwest), Great Lakes Labor Co

      4. Cool Works

      5. Businesses willing to share information/experience

      6. Work Campers

  2. Workforce Housing

    aHousing North – Yarrow Brown, Sharon Oriel

    1. Leelanau Community Land Trust – Larry Mawby

    2. Sleeping Bear Gateways Council – Bill Witler

    3. Leelanau County Action Committee - ?

  3. Early Childhood Care

    1. Leelanau Early Childhood Development Commission (LECDC) – Patricia Soutas-Little (Barb Duvall)

    2. Great Start Collaborative – included in LECDC updates

    3. Parenting Communities – BLDHD – Hollie Anderson

  4. Broadband/Cellular

    1. Leelanau Internet Futures Team (LIFT) – Patricia Soutas-Little

  5. Transportation

    1. BATA – Kelly Dunham, Director; Eric Lingaur, Director of Communication & Development

  6. Area Chambers – one representative from each Chamber

    1. Empire – Paul Skinner (Todd verify?)

    2. Glen Lake – Kathy Baarstad

    3. Cedar – Pam Novak

    4. Leland – Mark Morton

    5. Northport/Omena – Brayton Farr

    6. Suttons Bay – Mike Campbell (Murdicks)

Are there other contacts that should be included?  Monthly emails will be sent as reminders to those folks to see if they have new updates to provide.

 

Update from SBDNL

Last week the NPS released its annual Economic Impact Report.  Looking at 2021, SLBE visitation ranked #46 out of all 423 NPS sites #24 nationwide on Economic Impact.  

In 2021, 1.7 million park visitors spent an estimated $206 million in local gateway regions while visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. These expenditures supported a total of 2,730 jobs, $82.4 million in labor income, $147 million in value added, and $266 million in economic output in local gateway economies surrounding Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/socialscience/vse.htm

 

Topic: Leelanau Recovery Team Call

This is a recurring meeting to be held on:

Thursday, October 13, 2022 at 9:00 am

Thursday, January 12, 2023 at 9:00 am

Thursday, April 13, 2023 at 9:00am

Thursday, July 13, 2023 at 9:00am

Join Zoom Meeting.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83652716214?pwd=N2x6NDlHTW1LZmpSYmw5N1I2OXpFQT09

 

Meeting ID: 836 5271 6214

Passcode: 180090

 

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Jamie Jewell