Delta County and Escanaba/Gladstone are relatively small towns nestled on the coast of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Covid-19 will eventually work its way out of the danger zone and many local businesses will be looking for ways to rejuvenate the local economy. Some may not open again so we will need new strategies to bring back jobs and further prosperity in a way that hedges the best local assets. We can continue our current slow decades long decline or we can master the Digital Economy and our natural strengths to create something new and more sustainable. That will require courage of local business owners, governments, and stakeholders. Instead of shying away from the modern world lets jump two feet forward and find a strategy that will allow our children and grand children live the lives we always intended them to. Innovation occurs through sharing ideas so feel free to share this article with those who might have interest.
Small towns are not the first place you think of when considering hot Small to Midsize Enterprises (SME) manufacturing start-ups. While its not on investors lips today it very well could be in line with future changes in micro manufacturing technology and growing interest in an integrated outdoor lifestyle. Governments are at a loss on how to help rural communities find a way of attracting a younger crowd that wants to manufacture products that contribute to local economic growth. While globalization may have changed our economic system it is becoming increasingly possible to realign communities to find new value that leads to local prosperity. Delta County Michigan has an opportunity to attract SME Adventure-Venture Capitalists to its two main communities of Escanaba and Gladstone. How that happens is highly dependent on raising awareness of the communities strengths on a global scale to attract new investments in a way that creates local opportunities and jobs.
Why would anyone want to start over in the middle of "no where"(Only an expression!)? You may be surprised that there are pools of investors scouring the market to find investment opportunities that offer cheaper start-up costs while providing the outdoor lifestyle they love! The entrepreneur has woven into his(er) consciousness a risk taker and adventurer that lends itself to places with an abundance of rugged landscape. Understanding the needs of this "Granola" business group and their lifestyle interests can go a long way in attracting them to Escanaba/Gladstone in a way that raises prosperity for multiple stakeholders (Wouldn't it be nice to have new roads, businesses and balanced budgets?). They are the type of people who will likely fit best within the local culture and offerings and provide a productive means to wealth generation.
Entrepreneurs: Is there a difference between rural and urban entrepreneurs?
Before we can discuss attracting entrepreneurs to our 906 town we should first have a basic idea of what it takes to be the type of person who empties their bank accounts, digs through their pockets, and cashes in on their 401 K to throw a "shingle up"(Hopefully, they don't have to suffer that bad! A low interest business loan from one of our fine credit unions like Delta County Credit Union might work 😱)! Entrepreneurship isn't so much a "thing" as it is a way of looking at the world to find unrealized value. It is a sort of mental state that focuses on, compares, and contrasts market differences to reveal lucrative business opportunities. We are not looking for a "thing" as much as we are looking for people with specific traits and interests.
Perhaps there is a difference between urban and rural investors and we might want to know what that is? Research on 926 firms indicates that there are traits that differentiate between firm founders and those who do not start firms; neither are specific to urban or rural start ups (Babb & Babb, 1992). Basically.....they don't care because its a personal preference! Our investment recruitment efforts might be better served matching investment opportunities and lifestyle into a cohesive brand that gains the most interest (Looking at more research studies would tell us that with greater surety).
Not all businesses will be successful and we may want to consider who is most likely to succeed at thriving locally (We want to limit misalignment 😬)! According to the study of 2,777+ entrepreneurs the specific skills that lead to greater business success are a need for achievement, generalized self-efficacy, "innovativeness", stress tolerance, need for autonomy, and proactive personality (Raunch & Frese, 2006). As we begin to shed light on what it takes to start a successful business in the area we also begin to create a general framework for the type of entrepreneurship needed.
Thus a person could be an entrepreneur and like the outdoors or might not be an outdoor enthusiast but desires to be an entrepreneur. Others may simply be an outdoor enthusiast and not care about entrepreneurship. Thus, they are not mutually exclusive categories and focus should be more on finding the highest market appeal by looking for entrepreneurs and outdoor enthusiasm for recruitment and long-term retention success. It may not be helpful to only look for outdoor enthusiasts unless we want to also raise awareness of the area for tourism reasons (That isn't a bad idea as a spill over strategy).
What are the Personalities and Recreational Habits of Outdoor Enthusiasts?
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| Rugged rural location with just enough civilization for manufacturing |
Small towns are not the first place you think of when considering hot Small to Midsize Enterprises (SME) manufacturing start-ups. While its not on investors lips today it very well could be in line with future changes in micro manufacturing technology and growing interest in an integrated outdoor lifestyle. Governments are at a loss on how to help rural communities find a way of attracting a younger crowd that wants to manufacture products that contribute to local economic growth. While globalization may have changed our economic system it is becoming increasingly possible to realign communities to find new value that leads to local prosperity. Delta County Michigan has an opportunity to attract SME Adventure-Venture Capitalists to its two main communities of Escanaba and Gladstone. How that happens is highly dependent on raising awareness of the communities strengths on a global scale to attract new investments in a way that creates local opportunities and jobs.
Why would anyone want to start over in the middle of "no where"(Only an expression!)? You may be surprised that there are pools of investors scouring the market to find investment opportunities that offer cheaper start-up costs while providing the outdoor lifestyle they love! The entrepreneur has woven into his(er) consciousness a risk taker and adventurer that lends itself to places with an abundance of rugged landscape. Understanding the needs of this "Granola" business group and their lifestyle interests can go a long way in attracting them to Escanaba/Gladstone in a way that raises prosperity for multiple stakeholders (Wouldn't it be nice to have new roads, businesses and balanced budgets?). They are the type of people who will likely fit best within the local culture and offerings and provide a productive means to wealth generation.
Entrepreneurs: Is there a difference between rural and urban entrepreneurs?
Before we can discuss attracting entrepreneurs to our 906 town we should first have a basic idea of what it takes to be the type of person who empties their bank accounts, digs through their pockets, and cashes in on their 401 K to throw a "shingle up"(Hopefully, they don't have to suffer that bad! A low interest business loan from one of our fine credit unions like Delta County Credit Union might work 😱)! Entrepreneurship isn't so much a "thing" as it is a way of looking at the world to find unrealized value. It is a sort of mental state that focuses on, compares, and contrasts market differences to reveal lucrative business opportunities. We are not looking for a "thing" as much as we are looking for people with specific traits and interests.
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| Some of the most beautiful snowshoeing, hunting, and camping in the world! |
Perhaps there is a difference between urban and rural investors and we might want to know what that is? Research on 926 firms indicates that there are traits that differentiate between firm founders and those who do not start firms; neither are specific to urban or rural start ups (Babb & Babb, 1992). Basically.....they don't care because its a personal preference! Our investment recruitment efforts might be better served matching investment opportunities and lifestyle into a cohesive brand that gains the most interest (Looking at more research studies would tell us that with greater surety).
Not all businesses will be successful and we may want to consider who is most likely to succeed at thriving locally (We want to limit misalignment 😬)! According to the study of 2,777+ entrepreneurs the specific skills that lead to greater business success are a need for achievement, generalized self-efficacy, "innovativeness", stress tolerance, need for autonomy, and proactive personality (Raunch & Frese, 2006). As we begin to shed light on what it takes to start a successful business in the area we also begin to create a general framework for the type of entrepreneurship needed.
Thus a person could be an entrepreneur and like the outdoors or might not be an outdoor enthusiast but desires to be an entrepreneur. Others may simply be an outdoor enthusiast and not care about entrepreneurship. Thus, they are not mutually exclusive categories and focus should be more on finding the highest market appeal by looking for entrepreneurs and outdoor enthusiasm for recruitment and long-term retention success. It may not be helpful to only look for outdoor enthusiasts unless we want to also raise awareness of the area for tourism reasons (That isn't a bad idea as a spill over strategy).
What are the Personalities and Recreational Habits of Outdoor Enthusiasts?
Outdoor enthusiasts are an adventurous group at their core. Risk taking in life also means risk taking in outdoor adventures (Lee & Tseng, 2014). People who enjoy radical outdoor sports are also risk takers in business. Think about it, you are asking them to leave behind the security of a regular pay check and their social networks to move up into the tundra and start businesses that help employ locals (...and we thought outsiders were weird! 💁💩). They need the bonus of a lifestyle they enjoy!. According to total of 843 people in the study recreationalist personalities are positively associated with things like white water rafting and thrill adventures. Being an entrepreneur is a way of living that fits well with the adrenaline that comes from risky outdoor pursuits.
At this point we are moving into something called Psychographics that helps us further break down our target market into personality types. It is these personality traits we want to narrow in on because they will most likely be attracted to and retained in the area.
The type of activity one engages in is party of their personality make up and profile. In this particular study of N (N means Population)= 1000 with (This is the amount of participants. 1,000 is typical for large scale surveys of unknown populations) a response of around 339 participants (n=339) (Large N means total population while small n can be used as sample population). For example, National Geographic subscribers are categorized into hard and soft outdoor adventurers but both share Interests in Culture Experiences (Probably why wine bars, breweries and cultural events also make sense in such places-Upper Hand Brewery, Bonifas Art Center, Bungalow Depot, Serenity Yoga, East Ludington Art Gallery, Leigh's Wine Garden,, Cat-Man-Dos and others may inadvertently contribute to a "table setting" for potential growth ) (Schneider & Vogt, 2012). What they also found was that Need for Arousal and Need for Material Sources were predictors of hard traveler groups while Competitiveness was a predictor for soft travel groups.
Recreational Offerings & Associated Psychographic Traits
There are an abundance of recreational and outdoor activities that would spark most outdoor enthusiasts. At U.P. Travel you can review many local outdoor recreational offerings, as well as other attractions, in the area. Some of the fun things offered locally are hunting, fishing, mountain biking, water sports, camping, hiking, snow shoeing, down hill and cross-country skiing, sail boating, canoeing, jet skiing, and much more. That is a lot of different activities and there are people with money that love that variety!
Adventurers who engage in hard adventures enjoy risky and sometimes thrill seeking while soft adventure people may not like all that risk and are drawn more to wide eyed aesthetic beauty (Schneider & Vogt, 2012). Both groups may love the area but engage in fundamentally different types of outdoor activities. There is a difference between those who regularly engage in "hiking" Day's Rivers Trail to take pics of wildlife and another person hiking 10 miles into national forest and repelling off a cliff face to get a once in lifetime sunset picture. We want to know what in their personalty makes them different?
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| Historical Mining and Lumber Industries |
To strengthen our resolution we are still on the right track we will want to start breaking down activities into traits. Because personality traits lead to a decision to engage (or not) in particular activities it is important to find those traits that would seem to represent the majority of the area's investment and recreational opportunities. That specificity may guide administrators to think about the types of other local attractions that could enhance the appeal of the area to Adventure-Venture Capitalists.
"Grinding" the Data Down to Useful Coding
When we begin to break down activities into specific psychological traits we can better focus on attracting people who hold these traits to improve overall return on marketing dollars for recruitment and retention purposes. Psychographic scores are associated with anticipated participation in common activities such as beach activities, nature walking, swimming, wildlife/nature viewing, hiking, etc... (Merrit, Kline, Crawford, Viren & Dilworth, 2016). Thus, it is possible to break each activity into core traits that can be used to draw increased interest in the area based on focus.
A solid understanding of the needs of adventure-venture capitalists helps to further focus our efforts. According to a study published in the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration matching "the psychographic categories with preferred activities is a streamlined approach to destination marketing" (p.55). When we drill down the data to its most elemental forms we can then use those for statistical purposes. Were not going into detail on data but for the purposes of this mini article I would suggest getting down at least to the activity traits that allow some meaningful comparison and conclusions.
If you want a more full accounting on local recreation check out Visit Escanaba. Its worth your time! https://www.visitescanaba.com/
Soft
Adventure Examples Delta County Michigan
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Recreational Activity
(examples) |
Adventure Type Trait
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Activity Trait
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Competitiveness, Interest in Culture Experiences.
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Competitiveness, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Sailing and Boating (Leisure)
Escanaba Yacht Club, Gladstone Yacht Club, Vinette Boatworks, Dave's Outboard Repair, Discount Marine Parts, |
Competitiveness, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Competitiveness, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Competitiveness, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Day Hiking, Bird Hunting
Days River ; U.P. North Trails, Pioneer Trail Park, DCN Trails, Peninsula Point, U.P. Hidden Coast, Birding Trails, eBird Hot Spots, |
Competitiveness, Interest in Culture Experiences
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The biggest portions of hikers, according to Myers-Briggs Personality Type were ISFP and ESFP indicating Sensitive, Feeling and Perceiving types were dominant (Reinhold, 2005). The study also indicated that such people want easy quick access to hiking which fits into Delta County's easy trail access.
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Equestrian (Leisure)
Horse training, Horse Equipment at Tractor & Supply, Delta County 4H, Equine Now, Horse Rides and More |
Competitiveness, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Adventure tourism is “a trip that
includes at least two of the following three elements: physical activity,
natural environment, and cultural immersion” (UNWTO, 2014, p.12).
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Hard Adventure Examples Delta County Michigan
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Recreational Activity
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Adventure Type Trait
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Activity Trait
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Winter/other Camping
Gladstone Camp Grounds, Dunham's, Vegabond Campground. Michigan Department of Recreation. |
Need for Arousal, Need for Material Sources, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Rodeos, Barrel Racing, Equestrian, Polo, etc..
Great Lakes Rodeo, U.P. State Fair, Escanaba Polo Mallet Company, |
Need for Arousal, Need for Material Sources, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Need for Arousal, Need for Material Sources, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Places of play, equipment functionality, risk taking, competitiveness, activity aesthetics (McEwan, K., Weston, N. & Gorczynski, 2018)
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ATV, Snowmobiling, etc...
U.P. ORV Trail Maps, Days River ; U.P. North Trails, DCN Trails, Race-Driven, Casey's Repair, Cycle-City, Bergeron's Marine, |
Need for Arousal, Need for Material Sources, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Need for Arousal, Need for Material Sources, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Need for Arousal, Need for Material Sources, Interest in Culture Experiences
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There are many other sports that could be included.....
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Need for Arousal, Need for Material Sources, Interest in Culture Experiences
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Adventure tourism is “a trip that includes at least two of the following three elements: physical activity, natural environment, and cultural immersion” (UNWTO, 2014, p.12).
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(I may at some point go through all of the major activities of the area and what personality traits they attract but its not the purpose of this analysis. We can continue to break down our personality and motivational traits further depending on available science. Cross-tabulation analysis/other may work with categorical information. Check out Visit Escanaba for a lot more information on local attributes).
You can see from the chart above we are creating a categorical kind of data where information is placed in the closest representing category. It should be noted that when reviewing industry reports and scientific studies you will find their intent and purposes are slightly different and may contain useful and less useful information for research purposes. From the Mountain Biking example above we see information on equipment preferences and competitiveness. The equipment information is great for trying to determine what other types of businesses might be advantaged by an influx of mountain biking enthusiasts (i.e. Mr. Bike Ski & Fitness and Brampton Bike & Ski)(If you want to know more about each of the offerings in the area click the activity link. Businesses that offer these activities should develop their own activity psychographic.)
As we populate this table with available market information it will start to shed light on our target investor's deeper psychographic motivations. It is precisely those "opinions, interests, and emotions" that will help us more accurately put out an "investment call" through marketing channels. We are trying to match our advertisement stimuli (i.e. pictures, words, locations, channels, etc...) to create a physiological response (unconscious), enhance motivation (precocious) and formal decision making (conscious) in a way that encourages people to act on pre-existing needs and hopes to seek out information for investment in the area.
You can see from the chart below we are "grinding" our target marketing into smaller psychological traits that can be used to build a more comprehensive target profile.. Each of the groupings could offer different ways to approach our target market. Cross A Group is Soft Adventures, Cross B Group is Hard Adventures and Cross A & B are both. Each may have their own analysis conducted and marketing campaigns developed.
The Emerging Neuroscience of Marketing
What we choose to buy and where we spend our time is deeply in the crevices of our brain! Within the mind of our Adventure-Venture Capitalists target group is the imagery data we need to build effective investment and retention strategies. The psychographic dimension becomes an important piece of an investor profile that highlights deeper motivation and characteristics. Tapping these inner characteristics through marketing leads to greater conscious focus and enhanced purchasing activity (invest, vacation, stay). Powerful advertisements can highlight the inner imagery that attracts their conscious focus and encourages them to pick up the phone, email, buy a plane ticket, or take some action to make Delta County their investment home!
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| Neuroscience and da Vinci |
Analyzing psychographics is not science fiction but is part of a trend toward discovering in the inner recesses of our mind and out to the furthest perimeters of space. In this case, we are tapping into ground breaking research called neuroeconomics. Such research helps us understand that our economic world is socially constructed and a manifestation of our inner psychological needs and desires. In other words, our core deep rooted selves influence what we deem to be rational choice making that leads to economic structures and systems to fulfill those needs. You can read more on The Neurological Approach to Economics.
According to Jonathan Cohen, co-director of the Princeton Neuroscience Institute at Princeton University neuro economics "tries to bridge the disciplines of neuroscience, psychology, and economics" (Cohen, 2010, para 2). This makes sense as all scientific fields have similar root assumptions that apply across our understanding of the world. He further elaborates "Psychology and economics are complementary disciplines, in many cases studying the same phenomena: decision making, value-based judgment, heuristics. One side approaches it from a phenomenological, experiment-driven perspective and the other from an abstract, theoretical perspective." (Cohen, 2010, para 2).
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| Lots of coast land and summer sail boat races. |
Neuroscience is leading to all types of ground breaking discoveries in understanding rational thinking and consumer choice (i.e. the very root of economic assumptions). There are new companies sprouting to capitalize on psychographic marketing. For example, in an article entitled The Subconscious Implications Of Marketing companies like Neurensics, founded by Roger Dooley, engage in neuromarketing based on how the brain functions on a subconscious level. He states, "Neuromarketing is the use of brain activity technology to measure a subject’s response to specific products, packaging, advertising or other marketing elements." (Gross, 2017, para 2).
On a theoretical level almost all of our purchasing behavior starts in the subconscious. Harvard Business School Professor Dr. Gerald Zaltman believes in his book How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market that ninety-five (95%) of consumer purchases are made in the subconscious without consumer awareness (Zaltman, 2003). How our investors make decisions about where they want to invest, where they want to live and what type of activities they want to engage in. In our case, hopefully it is to come enjoy an adventure and explore possible investment opportunities because they have an urge and "call" to the area (Sounds like a process forming of inviting key investors, show them the area, micro or medium manufacturing facilities and recreational opportunities. Give them a contact to coordinate any interests).
It is a growing trend in science oriented marketing that seeks to tap inner needs in order to find out what types of images, smells, sounds, etc... lead to a biometric responses that results in a decision to act. We can look at a study that helps us see how this might work in a laboratory. The study entitled A Consumer Neuroscience Study of Conscious and Subconscious Destination Preference is about how participants respond to tourism stimuli (i.e. Delta County Michigan)(Ramsøy & Michael & Michael, 2019). Participants were show images of travel destinations using eye-tracking and electroencephalography (EEG) brain monitoring that result in a neurometric score of emotional markers (i.e. frontal arousal) and cognitive load metrics. (Once our target market has been found we could further study the "Delta County Brand" with our core Adventure-Venture Capitalist group to better understand their unconscious associations. Dr. Zaltman's Zaltman developed the metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET) method to discover unconscious metaphors for marketing purposes (Zaltman, 2015)).
When people respond to certain stimuli and that stimuli is directly aligned to our target market it can help attract those who have the most interest. Let us apply this to our Adventure-Venture Capitalists example. Our investor target market responds to certain images that relate to our local investment and recreation opportunities. Our advertisement dollars improve as well as our effectiveness in attracting people that help the entire county grow through spending on local activities and starting businesses that employ local workers. Spill over effects of investment capital to needed economic components such as Bay De Noc Community College that trains skilled workers and other quality of life factors can be profound.
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| Lots of Intact Rail for Export Shipping to via land, ports and commercial air (i.e KI Sawyer). |
Things We should Consider:
In-Depth Investor/Customer Profile: A full profile that takes into consideration age, available investment capital, psychographic traits, etc... will help us narrow down further what type of more specific person decision makers might focus on. Look toward demographic, psychographic, income, behavioral, and geographic profiles. Forbes has a pretty solid article on Steps to Identify Your Target Market (Cohn, 2015). It is also helpful to look at the Outdoor Industry Association and their Outdoor Economy Reports such its 887 billion market (Outdoor Industry Association, n.d.).
Attract Business with Best Chances of Long Term Success: Not all businesses will be successful and understanding global market trends will help encourage start-ups that fit within existing (or new) industry clusters. You can read more about national globalization here. We start by enhancing existing businesses and starting new businesses where they make a bigger difference. (The Book Review: Learning from the Masters of Venture Capital and Private Equity is helpful)
Ensure Local Culture is Ready: The local culture will have an influence on entrepreneurship and acceptance of a more international investor. New ideas, new peoples and diversity doesn't always sit well with those who have an interest in the status quo (At least from a sociological level it influences change and performance). As a business community we will need to better prepare local populations here and in other places for upcoming change (bend or break!). It is important to encourage exploration and "openness" so new comers are attracted and retained. The Creative Class has a whole different way of looking at the world! You can read more about Creative Individuals and Innovative Capital if you are not currently aware.
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| People really really love local sports! That's Mo! |
A Single Contact/Gateway for Investors: Investors may have a lot of questions before they make a "big move". They want to gain information on ordinances, facilities, zoning, local skills, culture etc.... A single contact where potential investors can gain information is important for development (Information reduces risks and encourages action.) Delta County will want to ensure there is a single contact that can provide all of the resources when needed such as finding facilities, "cutting" red tape, ordinances, manufacturing sites, where to find qualified workers (i.e. Upper Peninsula Michigan Works), etc. to ensure a smooth transition.
Quality of Life: Quality of life is important to local residents. They pride themselves on their roots and their "hometown" feel. Quality of life is what makes the area attractive and local investment should consider the entire system and how it impacts people. We will want to understand the potential impact on jobs, training/education, and compensation. Few people would support investment if it came as a net detractor for the area and its people. There are ways to ensure we are staying out of "pot holes" and encouraging sound policy. You may want to read a study entitled The Failures of Economic Development Incentives for more insight on why many policies fail (Peters & Fischer, 2004).
Get Stakeholders Involved: There are a lot of stakeholders that can improve the investment climate of the area. Business committees and development authorities may consider partnering with local/state government to coordinate attraction, marketing, mentoring, and resettling new investment in the area. Entrepreneurs want to focus on developing an awesome business but often get bogged down in all the local ordinance, permits...and the other disconnected pieces to starting a business. Coordinating stakeholders together to make an environment ripe for new business investment is important for branding a lifestyle online.
Make Sure Large Investors Are Aware of Opportunities: Large investors can make dreams a reality if they see an opportunity to create their own environment in locations like Escanaba and Gladstone. By creation I mean they can invest enough money in multiple local (and implant) businesses to encourage manufacturing and/or tourism clusters (or any other cluster their economists feel might work). It is a type of "pack" investing where money is strategically invested to foster innovation for their own markets. A little seed money to a lot of businesses can make a huge difference in investment ROI while limiting risk. For example, outdoor manufacturers that invest in a number of smaller batch manufacturers to build and test new products (i.e. tents, boats, snowshoes, mallets, etc...) before they adapt them to larger manufacturing systems elsewhere that have higher outlay costs.
"Bottom Line" and Context of Review: America needs to be more competitive and must find new ways of reaching markets that are willing to buy American Made products! Wealth must return to communities that have been supplanted by globalization that sidestepped their income generation capacities. Many redevelopment methods have failed because they didn't go deep enough into the structure of economic thinking and economic activity. This is why I like some of the research from places like Mackinac Center for Public Policy because they help us to think about ways to improve our past approaches so they have the widest impact on the whole community by considering investors, tax revenue, worker, and lifestyle advantages. It is my belief we do not shun the global world to find our nation's footing but to embrace it in a big way by becoming the most innovative, environmentally conscious, producers anywhere! Jump both feet forward into the Digital Economy and update our economic platforms so that our communities can once again feel the optimism of positive change!
If you were an investor who would you contact to explore opportunities?
That is part of the problem. 🤔 It isn't particularly clear but I can provide you with some information that might be helpful in your search. Having a single office to contact at the bottom of all advertising efforts leads to more investment interest and better efforts at economic coordination that enhances results. People need a single information contact/source that can coordinate them from the beginning to the end while maintaining contact with these start-ups to monitor growth. Feedback loops to politicians and government policy makers is essential for a dynamic adjusting strategies.
Delta County Economic Development Alliance
230 Ludington Street
Escanaba, MI 49829906-786-2192
info@deltami.org
www.deltaeda.org
Escanaba City Hall
Mayor Marc Tall mtall@escanaba.org 906-212-5450
City Hall Council Chambers
https://www.michiganbusiness.org/230 Ludington Street
Escanaba, MI 49829906-786-2192
info@deltami.org
www.deltaeda.org
Escanaba City Hall
Mayor Marc Tall mtall@escanaba.org 906-212-5450
City Hall Council Chambers
410 Ludington Street
Escanaba, MI
(906)786-9402
1100 Delta Avenue
Gladstone, MI 49837
Mayor Joe Thompson 906-420-1388 jthompson@gladstonemi.org
City Contacts Listhttp://www.gladstonemi.org/government/city_hall.php
Delta County Chamber of Commerce
1001 North Lincoln Road
Escanaba, MI. 49829
info@deltami.org
http://www.deltami.org/
If you can't find anyone who can help your welcome to contact me and I'll either point you in the right direction or go knock on a few doors because opportunity doesn't favor the timid! We owe it to our kids and grand kids to take initial steps.
A Few Important Links:
Visit Escanaba: Recreation and travel information. https://www.visitescanaba.com/
Escanaba Downtown Authority. https://escanabadda.org/event-organizer/escanaba-downtown-development-authority-the-city-of-escanaba/
Pure Michigan: https://www.michigan.org/
Context of Writing: This is a smaller review of a larger theory on economic clusters that may be a new way of looking at a future economic platform that blends the physical and virtual economic systems. A windfall scenario for a small town like Escanaba/Gladstone (Delta County) would be to attract large mutual fund(s) (i.e. investment funds) that want to hedge their post Covid-19 growth potential by attracting promising young entrepreneurs with great ideas and creating a pack investing scenario that leads to the development of one (or more) sustainable but modest global oriented clusters (Enhancing but maintaining the flavor of the area). That would require a "meeting of the minds" of local stakeholders and financial angel investors. It would then could become a model for other locations and possibly the nation (small and large strateies). You may review some of the messy and not yet finished Theory of Interactive Clusters for Sustainable Economic Growth HERE.
References:
Babb, E. & Babb, S. (1992). Psychological traits of rural entrepreneurs. The Journal of Socio-Economices, 21, (4).
Cohn, C. (February 6th, 2015). Steps to Identify Your Target Market. Forbes. Retrieved https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckcohn/2015/02/06/steps-to-identify-your-target-market/#78e66c47229d
Cohen, J. (2010). What is neuroeconomics? Yale Insights form Yale School of Management. https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/what-is-neuroeconomics
Gross, J. (Dec. 19th, 2017) The Subconscious Implications of Marketing. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/12/19/the-subconscious-implications-of-marketing/#6c9b06772d8a
Homburg, et. al. (2012). Marketing performance measurement systems: Does comprehensiveness really improve performance? Journal of Marketing, 76.
Lee, T. & Tseng C. (2014). How personality and risk-taking attitude affect the behavior of adventure recreationists. An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment, 17 (3).
McEwan, K., Weston, N. & Gorczynski, P. (2018). Differentiating Identities Within an Extreme Sport: A Case Study of Mountain Biking Print Advertisements. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6168712/
Meritt,R, et. al. (2018). Vacation Activity Preferences: An Examination of Generational Differences across Psychographic Categories Employing Plog’s Model. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 36; pp. 55–71
Merrit, R., Kline, C., Crawford, A., Viren, P. & Dilworth, G. (2016). An exploration of recreational activities while travelling relative to psychographic tendences. Tourism Recreation Research, (41), 3
Outdoor Industry Association (n.d.) Outdoor Recreation Economy. Retrieved https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/2017-outdoor-recreation-economy-report/
Peters, A. and Fisher, P. (2004). The Failures of Economic Development Incentives. Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 70, No. 1 . Retrieved https://www.mackinac.org/archives/2009/nr043009-petersfisher.pdf
Psychographics (n.d.) Cambridge Dictionary.
Retrieved https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/psychographics
Ramsøy, Thomas Z. & Michael, Noela & Michael, Ian. (2019). A Consumer Neuroscience Study of Conscious and Subconscious Destination Preference. Scientific Reports. 9. 1-8. 10.1038/s41598-019-51567-1.
Raunch, A. & Frese, M. (2006). Let's put the person back into entrepreneurship research: A meta-analysis on the relationship between business owners' personality traits, business creation, and success. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 16 (4).
Reinhold, R. (2005). Personality Type and Outdoor Enthusiast. Superior Trails. https://www.superiortrails.com/research-report.html#morereports
Schneider, P. & Vogt, C. (2012). Applying the 3M Model of Personality and Motivation to Adventure Travelers. Journal of Travel Research, 59 (3). Retrieved
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0047287512451134
Wells, William D. (May 1975). "Psychographics: A critical review". Journal of Marketing Research. 12: 196–213. doi:10.2307/3150443. JSTOR 3150443.
Zaltman, G. (2003). How customers think: Essential insights into the mind of the market. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.
Zaltman, O. (June 9th, 2017). Intro to ZMET. [Video File]. Retrieved https://youtu.be/RIUuIlB5ciA
Visit Escanaba: Recreation and travel information. https://www.visitescanaba.com/
Escanaba Downtown Authority. https://escanabadda.org/event-organizer/escanaba-downtown-development-authority-the-city-of-escanaba/
Pure Michigan: https://www.michigan.org/
Context of Writing: This is a smaller review of a larger theory on economic clusters that may be a new way of looking at a future economic platform that blends the physical and virtual economic systems. A windfall scenario for a small town like Escanaba/Gladstone (Delta County) would be to attract large mutual fund(s) (i.e. investment funds) that want to hedge their post Covid-19 growth potential by attracting promising young entrepreneurs with great ideas and creating a pack investing scenario that leads to the development of one (or more) sustainable but modest global oriented clusters (Enhancing but maintaining the flavor of the area). That would require a "meeting of the minds" of local stakeholders and financial angel investors. It would then could become a model for other locations and possibly the nation (small and large strateies). You may review some of the messy and not yet finished Theory of Interactive Clusters for Sustainable Economic Growth HERE.
References:
Cohn, C. (February 6th, 2015). Steps to Identify Your Target Market. Forbes. Retrieved https://www.forbes.com/sites/chuckcohn/2015/02/06/steps-to-identify-your-target-market/#78e66c47229d
Cohen, J. (2010). What is neuroeconomics? Yale Insights form Yale School of Management. https://insights.som.yale.edu/insights/what-is-neuroeconomics
Gross, J. (Dec. 19th, 2017) The Subconscious Implications of Marketing. Forbes Magazine. Retrieved https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2017/12/19/the-subconscious-implications-of-marketing/#6c9b06772d8a
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Lee, T. & Tseng C. (2014). How personality and risk-taking attitude affect the behavior of adventure recreationists. An International Journal of Tourism Space, Place and Environment, 17 (3).
McEwan, K., Weston, N. & Gorczynski, P. (2018). Differentiating Identities Within an Extreme Sport: A Case Study of Mountain Biking Print Advertisements. Frontiers in Psychology, 9. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6168712/
Meritt,R, et. al. (2018). Vacation Activity Preferences: An Examination of Generational Differences across Psychographic Categories Employing Plog’s Model. Journal of Park and Recreation Administration, 36; pp. 55–71
Merrit, R., Kline, C., Crawford, A., Viren, P. & Dilworth, G. (2016). An exploration of recreational activities while travelling relative to psychographic tendences. Tourism Recreation Research, (41), 3
Outdoor Industry Association (n.d.) Outdoor Recreation Economy. Retrieved https://outdoorindustry.org/resource/2017-outdoor-recreation-economy-report/
Peters, A. and Fisher, P. (2004). The Failures of Economic Development Incentives. Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 70, No. 1 . Retrieved https://www.mackinac.org/archives/2009/nr043009-petersfisher.pdf
Psychographics (n.d.) Cambridge Dictionary.
Retrieved https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/psychographics
Ramsøy, Thomas Z. & Michael, Noela & Michael, Ian. (2019). A Consumer Neuroscience Study of Conscious and Subconscious Destination Preference. Scientific Reports. 9. 1-8. 10.1038/s41598-019-51567-1.
Raunch, A. & Frese, M. (2006). Let's put the person back into entrepreneurship research: A meta-analysis on the relationship between business owners' personality traits, business creation, and success. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 16 (4).
Reinhold, R. (2005). Personality Type and Outdoor Enthusiast. Superior Trails. https://www.superiortrails.com/research-report.html#morereports
Schneider, P. & Vogt, C. (2012). Applying the 3M Model of Personality and Motivation to Adventure Travelers. Journal of Travel Research, 59 (3). Retrieved
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0047287512451134
Wells, William D. (May 1975). "Psychographics: A critical review". Journal of Marketing Research. 12: 196–213. doi:10.2307/3150443. JSTOR 3150443.
Zaltman, G. (2003). How customers think: Essential insights into the mind of the market. Boston, Mass: Harvard Business School Press.
Zaltman, O. (June 9th, 2017). Intro to ZMET. [Video File]. Retrieved https://youtu.be/RIUuIlB5ciA
