Escanaba City Council October 7th, 2021 Regional Cluster Development-Good News! Good News!

Escanaba will be sending a letter of support and request for participation in the American Rescue Plan for Regional Collaboration. If you don't know much about the plan you can read more about it HERE. There is some additional information at Grants.Gov. The plan basically helps Escanaba (and other places) connect back up to the global economy through developing industries that improve not only their own town but also other towns within a supply chain network. 

Escanaba is located in Delta County Michigan and is ripe for investment in key industry development and outdoor recreation. Understanding how to connect the local economy to the global economy by creating high value locations that best the market (and our competitors) is important. That requires us to think about the linkages between different aspects of the economy. Regional Cluster Development, Region Lightning Strike, Development Network, Supply Chain Dev. Delta County Shipping, Infrastructure Synergy, Delta County Start Up Model, Industry University Research Pooling and my unfinished Transactional Cluster Theory.

Other beneficial information includes (nice bullet points👍)

-Seeking funding to expand marina.

-Marina work to be done.

-Streetscaping on Ludington (Good idea.)

-Redeveloping formal jail (Prime real estate. It should have strong market interest)

-Monte Morrison reappointed Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and Historical Commission for one more term.

-Celebrating our retirees and all of their contributions.

You can sort of get a picture of what is going on in terms of revamping Escanaba as a destination place. If Escanaba does well in developing its market appeal Gladstone could consider its own complementary development process that works in tandem with Escanaba's and the county to enhance each other.

What is the Build Back Better Regional Challenge?

"Through the American Rescue Plan, the Economic Development Administration (EDA) created a $1 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge that seeks to transform regional economies through groups of complementary, aligned projects that will help regions recover from the coronavirus pandemic and increase resilience. These regions will have the opportunity to supercharge their local economies by growing new regional industry clusters or scaling existing ones" (American Rescue Plan, Sept. 29th 2021, para 1). You can read more in the FAQ.

The Two Phases

"This program is designed as a two-phase competition. In Phase 1, interested regions form coalitions of eligible entities and collaborate to develop a Concept Proposal that outlines a vision for the development or expansion of a new or existing regional industry or industries, as well a collection of 3-8 potential projects that support that vision. EDA will select 50-60 Phase 1 coalition finalists and award technical assistance grants of up to $500,000 each, through a lead institution, to further develop the coalition’s concept and collection of projects for their regional growth cluster".

"In Phase 2, coalition finalists will compete for significant implementation assistance. EDA will award 20-30 coalitions each a total of $25-75 million, and up to $100 million. These awards will assist communities in executing ambitious plans to supercharge their regional economies across a variety of strategic growth sectors."

 

Economic Development Administration (EDA or the Agency), U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). by Dr. Murad Abel on Scribd

The Need for New National Direction-Thinking Beyond Political Mud Slinging and "Rigged" Economy

There has been some debate on what it is going to take to restore our national sense of purpose and our ability to compete on the global market. Just about everyone has a slingshot and a fist full of mud (...a few probably put other stuff in there as well.😬) and they just lob it at each other indiscriminately (...dirt bombing each other.). We as Americans are more than that....we are a team of people who solve problems and do what is in the best interest of our society and our collective self interest codified into a nation. (....unless there are reasonable alternatives and right now I see none other then fixing our current problems in a spirit of national rejuvenation and sparking the rejuvenating power of an American Renaissance. Its actually scientifically possible to have a renaissance as all phenomenon can be repeated with the right catalysts. We are part of our patterns in life, in history, in development. Patterns of Life)

That is if we can get people/leaders to work together....and this is where the miracles lay that unlock the gates of future prosperity that reach over the walls of country clubs that hold their opportunities close (Elite-nar-cysts! Sorry. just made up the term. I rewrote the same concept three times and it all sounded stupid so I'm going with the last one.). If your going to call someone a leader you should first make sure that they have leadership traits.  I'm not talking about any specific leader or a specific party because I'm thinking beyond that to a point in time and space where our nation is looked upon with love and envy on the world arena (Tall order but its possible with the "right" leaders and "right" followers. I say "right" with quotes because many times they are reversed. The loudest mouths in the room might be better followers than leaders because it isn't about them. 🤷) 

(I get most of us think its impossible to restore America to its former glory! A sort of hopeless cause. Much better to move to new glories; or argue with indecisiveness! We just need leadership to see a better future and work together to create it...but that may take a miracle. 👼Our success and failure is dependent on an accurate assessment of our national strengths and weaknesses and in turn willingness to work strategically together to achieve collaborative success based on a shared unified vision. 

While we have many different communities we should have a central point of agreement but we fail to sell it because most of our "groomed" leadership can't see it! They have very little idea what the rest of the country looks like, the struggles they face, and the problems that are woven into the social fabrics. That is why tough talking each other might not open up enough pathways of understanding to find a final divergent solution. In other words, we can't see enough of alternative arguments to think critically about the solution. We are blinded before we walk into the voting chamber.)

I have hung with the ultra rich and the ultra poor and at their very core they are the same (At least in my perspective. Tea in Italy and gas station coffee...its all still beverage). There are different peoples with different personalities and sub categories of those personalities but the money and education enhance those existing core beliefs. Being born wealthy (or poor) doesn't change that personality but only highlights or diminishes it (Same thing with doctorate degrees.). The more difficult the situation the more a personality is solidified into its true self (Good and bad). True character comes out during difficult times when all the choices are bad. Our leadership should be reflective in part of themselves and their personal needs as well as their duty to their other causes (They represent their own experiences and needs within a social and political context.). 

Those causes might include their political party, their country, their town, their friends, and even their own personal image. What I can say is that moving outside of that paradigm to seeing themselves in a historical contextual flow helps to envision the greater purpose of their behaviors to achieve something greater then themselves. Societal benefit can be achieved by promoting true democracy and capitalism based on merit and not race, religion, good ol' boy or political affiliation (Yes I'm a Republican but I certainly could see myself challenging some behaviors in the best interest of society. Something similar could be said for the Democrats that have their own issues....but alas....as of yet I have not been blessed with that type of influential power....and of course I shouldn't be throwing stones sort of speak. I'm just a droplet in a sea of competing voices and my opinion is one of many hundreds; if not thousands. ).

Despite our limitations we should be one society and not many small societies competing against each other. The rich are not immune to the perils of the poor nor are those who lean far right in politics not much different than those who lean far left in politics as the collapse/redefining of one is a collapse/redefining of the other. Opportunity and motivation lay in the universalization of values that encourages greater human development and a stronger society molded around a shared sense of purpose. I mean philosophically.......I'm not an expert.....but whatever got us into a non-competitive place must end. 

IMF Lowers 2021 GDP Forecasts for Most Nations-Health, Supply, Prices!

The IMF came out with new projections for 2021 and 2022 that will be somewhat more muted then what we have experienced over the past few quarters. They state GDP will be 5.9 percent in 2021 and 4.9 percent in 2022. Factors such as global availability of vaccines, inflation, supply chain issues, etc.. etc.... etc....(ok...its not that bad!). Basically we have some challenges but our overall growth will be fairly positive in orientation (Some of this might be based on a shift in the way we do business, adjusting supply chains to overcome challenges, and the overall ability of the corporate structure and the labor market to shift. So 2022 to 2023 will be more indicative of our new economic homeostasis....and in turn our postCovid competitive position. Something we might want to compare with China and Europe. Did we gain traction or did we lose traction?)

You may want to read Recovery During a Pandemic or the Executive Summary if your looking for a quick review (It is the same thing as an abstract in a research study. I guess if we applied research we could call it an Executive Abstract written specifically for industry to apply concepts. This isn't the case here but sometimes in higher education we write things that are for academia but then don't always do a great job at making it "usable" for industry advancement. Perhaps summarizing research for industry application could have a subtle but fairly large underlining factor on industry development. Think about it...you need new ideas to flow between the higher edu and industry. I suspect that is one of the differences between PhD and DBA in that the latter seeks to apply research more....but I suspect this will change some over time.)

 Andrea Shalal from Reuters wrote a excellent article IMF trims 2021 GDP forecast, citing 'vaccine divide,' inflation highlighting some of the issues. In addition, Jeff Cox from CNBC also put together a more inflationary discussion IMF warns on inflation, says the Fed and others should be prepared to tighten policy (Important to consider. We should look to the news and read widely to understand trends but we should also go back to the sources and interpret the information for ourselves. Each writer uses their experiences to understand that information and they do so by their own particular lens and expertise. To develop your own lens means understanding the report on your own and in turn understanding the general public discussion on such issues.)

You can read IMF's Chief Economist, Gita Gopinath, the Deputy Director of the Research Department's transcript October 2021 World Economic Outlook Press Briefing

The Study is here again for your perusal. Recovery During a Pandemic

Goldman Sachs Economic GDP Forecasts (October 10th, 2021)

Goldman Sachs GDP Projection 21-21

Goldman Sachs released a GDP forecast report that highlights that indicates a couple of primary drivers (See Goldman Sachs GDP Forecast 2021-2022... 

1. Fiscal support will be reduced leading to a slow down in the economy.

2. Consumer services will need to recover (They believe will take time to recover.)

They provide a couple of projections that include 4.5% 2021Q4 and 4% growth for 2022.

The analysts feel that services will have a hard time recovering and semiconductors are slowing things down. Certainly that seems to be the case. What I'm watching closely for my own personal research in the digital GDP aspects and how that impacts overall GDP. The pandemic has changed how we conduct business. The semiconductor problem will need to be fixed (I have a couple of unfinished ideas how certain innovative clusters can create speed up development of home grown industries like aerospace, military, semiconductors, robotics, etc... In this case, I'm just playing with a general model in Delta County Michigan. You can sort of see what I'm talking about HERE.)

Standing Up to Poor Behavior and Extremism is a "Whole" Nation Affair

Extremism is a dangerous thing and seems to lean toward a growing trend in society. The first images we conjure up is foreign, dark skinned, and of course radical religious beliefs. That definition has changed somewhat over the past few years and an image of extremism is slowly shifting based on necessity to something more universal that includes lighter skinned ultra nationalists that want a society made up of people similar to themselves (At least until they have it and then other differences will be highlighted because its a way of thinking of chronic comparisons and feelings of powerlessness. That is also why giving people the skills and abilities to compete in the global market helps lower extremism through positive prospects). 

I should note that supporting a particular party or a particular vision for the nation is not extremism. We may agree or disagree with the values being promoted but inherently there is nothing wrong people working within a political process (Once they go outside that process or use threats and intimidation we have a different kind of problem.). Where it becomes an issues is when groups distort certain beliefs to target and intimidate "others" (...usually meaning of different races and religions but without those easily exploited differences to create a scapegoat it could be be others within one's same social networks. This is also an indication there were prior victims.) in an attempt to gain power over them.

(....notice now that extremism is action that can be engaged in by any race, religion, ideology in a modern society. Global societies that are upward moving won't have as much extremism as societies that are struggling with change. See Our Two Biggest National Threats Post Afghanistan? (Decision Making and Human Capital Management))

Certainly people have the right to like or dislike others as they see fit even if those beliefs are based primarily on superficial differences (...meaning not on the quality of character of people). Under such circumstances we can accept that we are not dealing with fully mature minds and sophisticated individuals that see the value in all human life. Instead we are often discussing those that are heuristic in their thinking, black white outlooks of "all this" or "all that", and have difficulty seeing themselves and their behaviors with an accurate feedback loop (...bullies and bigots have a hard time managing their thinking and/or emotions when frustrated.). 

Training law enforcement to see the signs of extremism can go a long way in ensuring that they understand the behaviors and can actively thwart or prosecute such behaviors when they become criminalized. Having a proper backstop is helpful and the good men and women serving our communities should be given more tools to be even more successful in their work (The ultimate goal is to help them be successful by enhancing their abilities and giving them the support they need. That in turn can lower extremism, create community engagement, and result in a more accurate and just Justice System. See Judges and Society  )

(Zhang, Zhou, and Mao, 2018)

It isn't fair to put all of societies ills on our officers as the disease of extremism is a social affair that has been in the brewing in certain circles of society for some time. We just didn't think of it as such until a number of national events occurred that highlighted how big that problem is and our lack of tools for dealing with it. The problem lies in part on our legislative process, value systems, and the promoting of extremism in politics (Called social prompting. You can see in this study how ethical leadership prompts follower behaviors. Take that on a national scale and the information people receive via communication/marketing channels such as television, Internet, etc... and you can sort of create a mental connection how this a bigger social issue. This is also why I encourage our leadership to think before they talk. ...a problem most of us suffer from....even me. 😔 Ethical Leadership and Follower Moral Actions: Investigating an Emotional Linkage ).  

I wish I knew all the answers. My family was targeted by extremists (at the very least extremely self consumed individuals that exploited existing bigotries.) and it was told that they were coming after my family because "You are Muslim!" (..which they don't really know anything about our values. Sad actually...that they feel is ok to act on such beliefs without understanding the targets they are acting on. More to come on a project I set out on a long time ago and have sort of wrapped up over the past few years. Lots of it is good and some of its bad but its a solid feedback loop for government stakeholders....assuming there are any. Who cares right?🤷). There was much more to this such as mental health, reputation, and financial gain but it was narrowed down to a single statement that prompted coordinated group aggression. I can only say that I have responsibilities to my family and to my country (and community) so I'm not willing to look the other way until their is a level of accountability (Right is right and wrong is wrong. If we don't have basic values the rest of the foundation becomes shaky through root assumptions and miscued social logic. Hegel and Social Spirit). 

Things like this happen because we have not challenged these behaviors prior and have not given good reason for participants to think before they act (That doesn't even mean punishment in all cases. Sometimes education, exposure, and values makes a difference. Distorted Mirrors). Automatic "immunity" from such behaviors is dangerous for everyone involved and can create a societal crack that can't be mended by fluffy words and fast talking spokespersons. It is an essential truth of who and what we want to be as a nation. While I can't speak for our political elite, I'm an advocate of learning, training, developing and promoting of pro-social values that create win-win situations across the board. 

The question then becomes from a functional level...."How does that happen?" ....and that is where most of us go blank. The one thing I can think of at the moment is to get mental help to those who first show signs of aggression mixed with hate based behaviors (...it is about power, feelings of powerlessness, and lack of respect for others.). In this case, such behaviors were seen as "cool" and not addressed appropriately thus far in their lives (They are isolated and coolness is defined primarily the same way since they were in grade school in the 70's. Its like Caddy Shack mixed with Animal House 😳). It also became emulated within their dysfunctional social networks (meaning they have a hard time self correcting because they don't see themselves as a problem.). See Michigan Extremism Reform. Others may have different arguments that may be just as valid.

_______________________________

Side note. The group is no longer acting in a direct aggressive manner but most have shown very little remorse for their behaviors. There is a level of arrogance of some of the members (chuckling and spreading rumors) and a few have bridged the gap in social gestures to indicate they no longer desire to be aggressive (...likely more based in fear of being held to account. There may be a few genuine souls in the bunch.). Some have continued to ostracize at the direction of their ex-sports group leadership (i.e. the ones who started the problem. Its also interesting to see how they view others as wanting their validation...without considering alternative explanations. 🤔🤷). Thus it is a mixed bag of positive and negative. I don't want to say what I hope for in this case because I want people to sort of choose the path they want without any prompting from me (Even if what I say is the most logical thing in the room if I say one thing they are the type that go one way and if I say another they will run in the opposite direction. For many it is about looking good, winning, and saving face without realizing how that highlights latent variables of distorted self and group image.). Its important sometimes to not say too much.....so that events can unfold on their own. Thus I'm only understanding and explaining what seems to make sense to me. Perhaps others have explanations as well but what I have seen so far it seems like we are lacking in this regard to good theory. 

Diving a Late 1800s Unknown Schooner-Researching Shipwrecks

A couple of small vessels carrying 7 divers launched onto Lake Michigan October 2nd, 2021 to dive a sunken vessel found (Can't really say discovered because it might be a well known ship to others on an informal or formal level.) near Gulliver Michigan. The divers weren't sure what the ships name was or how long it may have been there but do understand that sometimes Great Lakes raises from the grave 100+ year old nautical time capsules in places they weren't there before. The local divers call it the "unknown boat" and label it on their GPS as such. 

After diving and taking a closer examination, pictures and film it might be helpful to pinpoint whether or not that boat has already been listed somewhere (Chances are it has been logged.). The research side is part of the fun because you have to look at maps, logs, compare pictures, request information, etc... When you have touched a piece of history up close and receive new information that helps you solve the puzzle of where it came from, the process of gaining new knowledge can be very exciting!

Likely very similar in design
 to another schooner found in the area
R. Kanters

Chances are that the ship has been discovered prior but as of yet I haven't come up with anything during a brief review of the literature. I came close with a similar discovered ship last year in the area that has parallel characteristics as this boat; a late 1800's schooner model (I think 🤷). Unfortunately that one was closer/on shore and not in as good shape as the one we were diving (You can see the haul, mast, nails, design, etc... in the video). 

Thus after a quick review just to make sure I don't miss something obvious (which I sometimes do...actually often. 😬) I sent Gulliver Historical Society an email with hopes they may know right away the name of the boat and its history (Which I will post information on the blog if I get and it can be shared.) On the off chance they don't know the vessel, I will then contact MSRA and see what they think (Again...its very possible the boat is known and listed somewhere but none of the seasoned local divers in the group seemed to have any real facts....and they like to have facts on a sunk ship....part of the archeological-explorer life and story telling. Explorer Types  love to talk about their ships. Sixteen Personalities-Explorer)

You may also read the following article on shipwreck case study methods and the scientific method in an actual published study. (Notice the sections and activities involved in archeology type research.)

Something a little more light hearted with nice pics I took of the light house/launch area.... Seul Choix Lighthouse-The Haunted Lighthouse

Sites: 

National Park Service provides some information on how to document shipwrecks. Collecting and sharing information can lead to better preservation of the artifacts and historical cataloging of the ship (Assuming it wasn't done already). 

Gulliver Historical Society may be able to provide a level of insight on the ship and often such local historical societies keep records safe and are able to retrieve historical documents that are relevant to the area and its people. This is one reasons why you should consider donating to such groups because they preserve our past so we can grasp our futures. 

Michigan Shipwreck Research Association (MSRA) is The organization’s work includes research and documentation of submerged ships and the development educational resources. (I'm trying to make a solid video for educational purposes.) .Article HERE (They would be a good source to contact if the local historical society doesn't have anything to add.)

A website Shipwreck Explorers doesn't list any schooners in the area so I can't say when they were last updated because one was found last year 2020. HERE

An article by Smithsonian Magazine indicates a late 1800 schooner was discovered in the area near shore. Our bow was still intact but the age and model appear similar. The one they discussed in their article is the "20th-century schooner named after part-owner Rokus Kanters, a marine contractor and the former mayor of Holland, Michigan" (Fox April 30, 2020, para 2). HERE

Another great site Michigan Shipwrecks doesn't show a shipwreck at our location. Location Map

NOAA also didn't show a shipwreck in the area. HERE...........so we will wait to see what the historians say. Don't get too excited! 

CEO Confidence Down on Delta Variant and Labor Market (Conference Board)

A report entitled Measure of CEO Confidence created by The Confidence Board and The Business Council indicates that CEO confidence has declined somewhat from Q2-2021 (I just looked up both the websites and what we find is that both are leading authorities in business based on the intellectual and financial capital of their members in US and global markets. 🦉 You can see some of their members HERE.) A measure of CEO confidence can impact things like corporate strategy and how they are going to adjust to the market. Short term concerns (which the numbers are still positive) are unlikely to derail strategy as much as say major market shifts. 

You can review the specific numbers in their report but it looks like current economic conditions and comparisons of outlooks when compared to 6 months ago were down from a prior assessment in Q2. Likewise, CEO sentiment was also down in feelings of prospects over the next six months as well as those activities in the short term. Much of this can be expected with Delta variant, economic shifts, labor shortages (Why we should innovate our production, robotics and wearable tech to improve productivity.) and a few big bills debated in Congress. Sometimes they are going to be short term issues and some can be long term problems. 

Dana Peterson, Chief Economist of The Conference Board states, “A summer surge of the highly infectious Delta variant—coupled with slumping vaccination rates—has brought pandemic uncertainty back to the fore in Q3. Nevertheless, optimism remains well above pre-pandemic levels, boding well for employment and investment growth in the months ahead.” (Conference Board, 2021, para 4.)

The Conference Board Measure of CEO Confidence

Conference Board (October 7th, 2021, para 4). CEO Confidence Retreated in Q3, but CEOs Remain Optimistic. Retrieved October 8th, 2021 from https://www.conference-board.org/research/CEO-Confidence/

YouTube Report Highlights the $20.5 Billion and 394K Jobs Value of the Creative Class and the Digital Economy

The digital economy is growing and will likely continue to transform our traditional economic system and raise the stature of the creative class. Over the past few decades content sharing services (and other digital GDP activities) have risen and people have flocked to them to develop productions that attracts followers and diversifies publishing. But there is more to this because those that create and develop new ideas are highly sought after individuals....

You can read YouTube's announcement and executive summary and the full report.

Some of the highlights from the report are ...

$20.5 Billion contribution to GDP. 

394K Jobs 

80% SMB with a YouTube channel indicate that YouTube helped them. 

Digital GDP

Digital GDP is growing but thus far has been calculated as part of these sort "virtual content services" and is currently in the process of reforming. See BEA Digital GDP Definition. We also find that in 2019 Digital GDP comprises 9.6 percent ($2,051.6 billion) of current-dollar gross domestic product ($21,433.2 billion) and just barely being manufacturing (meaning creativity and manufacturing can go together to maximize market position.). See BEA Digital GDP Estimates (I also want to see how we adapted to COVID and suspect the 2021 numbers will be higher because of how the data has been drawn from previous estimates as well as the 2022/23 interchange when companies and policies makers had a chance to adapt to new market realities. See 2021 GDP Explosions). That definition will likely adjust again at some point in the future to encourage a long-term accurate description as more and more parts of our economy move online and bridge the virtual-physical divide. 

Things like block chain and cryptocurrencies are going to continue to adapt and what we will find are further adjustments to our digital economic existence. Furthermore, we are also likely need to be open to the possibility of utilizing new methodologies to further encourage this class to use their creative and academic capital to realize tangible products for market leading industries and taxable net positives. This is also why I advocate for the development of clusters where where novel ideas, matched with R&D and skilled labor produce innovative outcomes. See Digital GDP Govt. Mind, Gerome Powell Central Digital Currency, US Digital GDP Rises, and Infrastructure and Synergy

What is the Creative Class and the Type of People Involved? 

Creative class people invent new things and utilize their creative intelligences to solve problems in new ways that develop advanced businesses and products. Those in the creative class are people who are in the ,"... design, education, arts, music and entertainment, whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and/or creative content" (Florida, 2002, p. 8). They are an emerging group much like the Merchant Class of the past but instead use their their creative intelligence to get things done in novel ways.

The Creative Class is derived, at least in initial theory, of super creative core and creative professionals. One is engaged in the development of new science while others are more focused on the application of creative knowledge. One might think of this as the inventor-scientist and the other is the builder-artisan. Super creatives can use formal science and non-formal idea development to generate new and leading products while creative professionals are the one's that put this knowledge into daily use within our economy; creators and builders (I'm not sure if this is the right way to look at it but its an emerging sociological class so there might be some room for definition tweaking.)

Within the super creative core are people who can bridge multiple developmental domains and can further science by drawing on a diverse set of skills and backgrounds that blend them into something new way of approaching problems. I suspect such individuals would need exposure to a wide variety of life experiences and activities to develop multiple skill sets. As our technological lines in virtual world (....mixed with physical world. i.e. education. Waiting for VR education to come out.) we can start thinking diversifying our offline and online activities to focus on people's emerging skills to maximize them (....probably about 10 years off or more. Time will tell.).

Can Towns like Escanaba/Gladstone Attract Digital Nomads and Tourists in a Way that Increases Local Jobs?

One of the reasons why I'm working on a hypothetical cluster model in Delta County MI is because they have the opportunity to utilize new strategies such as the development of a Digital Nomads Land that attracts international creative talent bent towards A.) engineering & design, micro-manufacturing, etc...(create and develop new products as well as develop certain local skills.) that would fit within the B.) outdoor adventure lifestyle (retention by lifestyle appeal that improves tourism dollars.) that enhances local industry, tourism, and small business development. 

In other words, I'm matching existing geographic/outdoor, infrastructure, and local skill sets with market trends and industry needs to revitalize certain key industry(s) as well highlight the economic advantages of high potential-appeal towns like Escanaba/Gladstone (Its just a unfinished model so please wait before throwing tomatoes. Sometimes dumb ideas bear fruit. ...and yes a tomato is a fruit. 🍅 😯)

We should also consider that while much of the research has focused on the attraction of the creative class to large cities it is also growing as a demographic and some of those creative types are going to be interested in rural outdoor enthusiast areas. Because of their lifestyle of events, fun, and activities they also can build tourism interest. This is why smart policy can sometimes shoot many birds with one stone when focusing on meeting emerging market targets that raise value. See Attracting SME and Rebuilding Downtowns. 

Innovative Clusters comprised of the creative class and local skilled labor can help to innovate those industries involved in the cluster process (...again its just an idea. I'm a creative type. 😏). Countries are clamoring to attract the creative class because they also generate new products and in turn higher economic growth. Places like Delta County have the fundamentals to attract inventors, scientists, artisans and entrepreneurs but could use a boost with stronger marketing, investment, and city-state-industry-military/aerospace type coordination on important key projects that anchor other stakeholders. If there is a will there is a way because “The Only Constant in Life Is Change.”- Heraclitus (...or we can just keep doing the same thing over and over and hope for a better result.) 

Florida, Richard (2002). "Bohemia and Economic Geography" (PDF). Journal of Economic Geography. 2: 55–71. http://creativeclass.com/rfcgdb/articles/6%20Bohemia_and_Economic_Geography.pdf

Bergman Announces Congressional App Challenge

Encouraging students to get into STEM and find new ways of competing on the market is important. While competitions like these are fun they also provide an outlet to showcase those who have the skills that might blossom into whole new products and product lines when they get out of college/school/specialization. 

The following was taken from an email snippet. You can learn more about your first district congressman HERE.  You may learn about some of the politicians that impact the 1st District HERE

Bergman Announces Congressional App Challenge

Washington - Each year, students in the First District create and submit their original apps for a chance to win the Congressional App Challenge (CAC). The competition was created in 2013 through House Resolution 77, which outlined plans for Representatives to host individual app competitions in their Districts to promote computer science and STEM. Last year’s winners from Michigan's First District were Brett Bruner, Joshua Doctor, Shane Pilate, and Gabrielle Krakow from Elk Rapids High School for their work titled, “Space Hop.” The competition is for middle and high school students who can either register individually or as teams of up to four. Interested participants should submit their applications by November 1st, 2021. You can learn more about the competition here

 

Michigan SENATE BILL NO. 82 Gross Appropriations $ 4,345,228,600

The Bi-Partisan Senate Bill 82 Passed Senate and Signed by Michigan's Governor Whitmer in the past few days. Budgets are important because it puts our money where our mouth is. Any sustainable system must balance those needs with the revenue it receives. States receive revenue and there is often disagreement on the source and how to spend it. I advocated when possible to find net positive return from investments that increase state short, medium, and long term revenue prospects (easier said then done...especially with large systems where everyone wants a piece of the cake in a world of corporate pressure that can move anywhere around the globe. That is also why we might someday consider alternative tax systems. This one is just sort of starting to form around attracting international headquarters and in turn their supply chains. See Calibrated Tax HQ). The reasons why something like that might work or not are many and its too big of a discussion for this article. However, it might include hard infrastructure, attracting FDI, innovating industries, creating vacation locations/digital nomads, streamlining and increasing effectiveness of regulations, developing local talent, stronger international/national state marketing/branding etc.... (This could go on and on but it takes a lot of time and research to design an inflow-outflow type of system/model. The most basic thing I can think of for the moment is Perpetual Sustainable Development and Delta County Firm Invest Model)

"The General Government budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, 2021. The bill appropriates $50.706 billion for all non-education state spending, of which $10.378 billion is federal money, including unprecedented amounts enacted by Congress as part of epidemic "stimulus" and relief bills.

When the state education spending authorized in House Bill 4400 is added, the combined budgets propose spending a grand total of $68.9 billion in the 2021-22 fiscal year, which is $10.4 billion more than the state has ever spent prior to the pandemic. That includes $3.6 billion more in state spending, a 10.4% increase, and $6.7 billion more in federal spending, a 28.4% increase. (MichiganVotes.Org"

These budgets are big and its helpful to review the whole thing in its entirety but then focus a little more on those parts that are of special interest. I will have to look around a little to see if I can find a budget year by year comparison. What often happens is that societal trends and environmental pressures are followed by allocating more or less money in certain budget issues/areas. Thus, there is a little lag but it does show how we respond in terms of managing crisis. At this moment I'm just looking for a couple of things that relate to state tech and hard infrastructure development as well as those things that impact Delta County Michigan.

A funny side note on something that drew my attention based on interest. This is an example of how marketing works in real life. When we have something in our head and we see something related in our perceptual field we pay more attention to it. This is also why politics can be so difficult because people become indoctrinated and in turn only pay attention to what they are already interested in and in turn ignoring alternative messages/logics. Our visual and other senses work like that...when we have used certain neural networks we also become more aware of differences in our perceptual fields. Some have the ability to better detect patterns and less subject to strict filtering mechanisms because they are better able to collect and make multiple meanings out of information. Anyway....blah.....blah....you can read Perceptual Selective Attention if this topic interests you.

Motorcycle safety education grants			2,100,000
Organ donor program			129,100

I better wear my helmet (I know I see a lot of people without helmets and it gives me a shiver. Cement is harder then head. ...and of course we are free to choose to wear or not wear. 🏍)I'm thinking of getting an entry level Harley next year and as I'm reviewing the budget my mind drifted to information I'm already interested in. 

You can review SENATE BILL NO. 82