Little Town of La Grange Kentucky-Could Delta County Do Something Similar?

 

Just Northeast of Louisville KY is a little town of La Grange. Not far from Louisville Ky for those who want to get out of the big city for the day. We were there to dive at a local quarry but others were there to relax and unwind from life.  As you make your way through the small downtown you will notice the abundant beauty of La Grange. Farmers, markets, cute store fronts, and a nice quiet family place that looks nearly untouched by modern times. 

Storefronts with big windows, the smell of homemade coffee permeating in the air, and the chatter of families that are enjoying their Saturday afternoon are likely to attract your attention. You can't but help to peer inside some of the stores and check out what treasures are located inside. I suspect a person could spend the entire morning exploring the tranquil sites.

Not sure if this is like this all the time and asked a local farmer stand if this was a "hot spot" tourist destination. He said with a smile that most come on the weekends but don't go to far.  Local tourists frequent on a regular basis to eat breakfast, stroll down the street and sit at the court house. Its the reliving the feeling of a time gone bye where abundant flowers is enough to uplift anyone's mood.

I'm from the U.P. of Michigan and like to think about economic development for pleasure and work. It would be nice to see Escanaba and Gladstone adopt a little more brand management practices to raise awareness of local tourism and investment opportunities. With a little changing of the light and tweaking of policies Escanaba could have its own brand reputation. 

Delta County Michigan has an opportunity to enhance its strengths to engage in micro and SME manufacturing, adventure tourism, and international/regional shipping. Much of the literature discusses how manufacturing and tourism seem to work in polar opposites. However, with a cluster theory I'm working on I believe it is possible to take existing underdeveloped clusters and enhance them with others that have global market alignment to create unique branding and competencies. 

 Micro manufacturing tourism related products can lead to a beautiful store front for tourists and a developing product that can be sold on local shelves and across the globe. Some of these products are likely to bud and in turn be future economic SME boons that employ local workers. 

You can learn more about La Grange HERE.