Perspective delivered by

Christopher Germain, AICP, EDFP

CEO, LSCP.

Nearly a year into my role as CEO of the Lake Superior Community Partnership, I continue to be in awe of the organization’s history and ongoing impact. Because it impacted me so much, I decided to show a map at our annual membership meeting of all the formal connections the LSCP has to other organizations. Several people mentioned to me after the meeting that they had no idea how wide the LSCP network went.

The reason for having so many formal partnerships is simple: a core tenet of the LSCP’s strategy is to be a connector. What exactly does that mean? It can mean different things depending on your goals, but to the LSCP it means providing opportunities for leaders from local businesses, local governments, nonprofit organizations, and more to interact regularly. Those regular connections allow the LSCP team to understand best the on-the-ground needs of our many partners and how we can best allocate our time to connecting our area to resources.

Whether it be attending a Business After Hours, the LSCP Annual Dinner, our June Golf Outing, or one of our many other opportunities throughout the year, new connections are formed each time the LSCP holds an event. We also spend significant time in 1:1 meetings, strengthening relationships that benefit us all. An additional way we build connections is via business retention visits.

In 2022, the LSCP met with 596 businesses; 483 of those were retention visits. During those visits, confidential discussions occur, often resulting in additional support ranging from information on project financing to assistance in locating talent and succession planning. These visits also allow us to understand best the key topics we should be communicating to our legislators and building local resources to address. Even with a heavy schedule, the LSCP team conducted over 125 business revisits in the first quarter of this year. We expect that number to be higher in the coming two quarters and encourage all our businesses to make time to meet with LSCP if they reach out. And if you aren’t hearing from us, please also reach out directly, and we’ll make the time for you.

Connections are also formed through the LSCP’s support of various committees and organizations. One of the most active is the Marquette County Ambassadors. This is a unique group representing dozens of viewpoints that collaborates throughout the year to identify unified priorities that benefit us all. By the time you read this, the Ambassadors will be back from their annual spring trip to Lansing – the first since the change of legislative power in the Capitol. As the only county in the state who makes regular trips such as these, the Ambassadors play a crucial role in building connections that ultimately benefit us all.

I could go on about how we connect our partners to resources, including the Childcare SPARK program, the Intergovernmental Housing Task Force, the Transportation Committee, the Sustainable Trails Planning Initiative, and so much more. And we’re constantly innovating, looking for new opportunities to form connections.

All this is to say that we couldn’t do the work we do without all our partners. They make the connections possible through their involvement and their investments. We’re unique in how we handle economic development in Marquette County and welcome everyone to be a part of the work and help us build even stronger connections going forward.