League of Women Voters (July 24th, 2024). Planes, Recreation and Vets

This was a a positive event and the type of questions asked got to the core of some of the issues. The discussion was wide and varied. If you want to know more about your candidates you can watch for yourself and their answers. Try and view them from a non-political lens and look at what they can offer the area. While they are seeking to be elected we still must consider personality, integrity, and action plans in that thought process. 

Me, I'm looking at ways they can improve the financial and quality of life of the area. There has been a large upswing in tourism and some industrial investments. The airport is getting bigger and activities have expended. There are some discussion on different types of industries that might have interest. 

-Parks have highest revenue yet last year. 

-5-year rec plan being developed.

-Over 3,500 vets but not enough staff. (Attracting companies that prioritize hiring and helping vets may help mitigate veteran costs and improve veteran opportunities. Even some tax deductive incentives can help if payroll taxes rise and public service costs decline.) Motivating video on Veteran: Lift After

-Larger planes with more visitors (We also have underutilized rail lines and we have a port which is starting to get more utilization for tourism and ship building.)

Attracting Foreign Investment (I might include also reaching out and marketing to investors in general)

Local Revenue and Taxes

The Effects of Corporate Taxes on Revenue

Escanaba Tourism is Up: Opportunities to Hedge With Other Industries?

Escanaba tourism' appeal is growing and that is a good thing because it raises interest and brings in new revenue. Tourism potential is just one of a number of possible industries that could flourish in the emerging hot spot of Escanaba as a northern destination. With locational asset Escanaba hosts within its immediate vicinity beaches, marina, hiking/biking, fishing, entertainment, dining, shopping, parks, casino and much more.. Visitors have a variety of activities to keep them busy all summer long (Need to work on winter tourism but there is a new ice skating rink going into the park so that will be nice.)

You may read Marquette Mining Journal: Tourism Up and Victor Cruise Lines Return to Esky as well as a little insight into the tourism industry in The Economic Impact of Tourism. 

Escanaba Light House Photo
For purchase :)

For economic purposes, I consider the possibility of developing industry clusters and how that might function in small towns like Escanaba (and surrounding). From a cluster perspective it is possible to hedge something like a tourism industry with other industries to build a stronger and more resilient local economy. The difference between national and local development is scale but similar underlining mechanics are present in both. Diverse business revenues sources that enhance local competencies (skill, knowledge,, etc. community environment) upon new infrastructure investments often maximize adaptability and resilience of the tax base (net positive tax return can be created to provide more revenue for cities.) 

If one were to lure new business and start-ups into the area we might think about how their unique attributes and competencies can support industry investment for business longevity. With a successful hedge when one industry declines another industry may grow creating stability in tax revenue and incomes. Possible hedges in addition to tourism might include entrepreneurship, skilled trades education, public service training, small batch manufacturing, shipbuilding/military/pleasure, virtual intellectual/tech oriented businesses, and our grand daddy the paper industry. 

In cluster hedging it is possible to share infrastructure and basic local knowledge to feed multiple industries at once through local competencies (attributes and skills). Thus if changes in the labor market occur,  labor/people may be able to shift from one industry to the next with relative ease using transferrable generalized knowledge. Furthermore, total skill development encourages innovation that comes from using such developed skills in applied ways (i.e. why skilled trades education locally can help multiple industries and draw more industry interest.).  Clusters share many suppliers and hire from each other in a way that adds collective knowledge to the whole system (Transference is increased within cluster but also exported as knowledge outside of the cluster creating longer tail economic benefits..)

These are just a couple of quick examples but if one were to look at how they enhance each other and map them out they could potentially determine which industries will further the cluster's development for the benefit of the community and healthy return to investors. The combination of industries in the same locality often creates innovation that impacts other industries. Even new industries can be developed if the components are in alignment and juiced with a little luck.  

.Hedging vs. Diversification

Delta County Board of Commissioners Meeting (9/19/2023): Digital Economy Ripe for Investment

 According to research the Internet economy grew 7X faster than the total economy making digital hot spots important for the development of the whole. Delta County has some of that ability and is upgrading the Internet infrastructure. There is a mention of this updated infrastructure and the amount of people who use the Internet. You may read the study here Internet Economic Growth.

You may also want to read that some of that growth is projected 2019 Digital GDP on Govt. Mind and How Covid Will Change the Economy?

With the growth in the area in terms of economic interest it looks like a good place to consider business and industrial opportunities (Long term economically, ecologically and socially sustainable ones have the best prospects for industry. There is also a variety of investment store fronts in downtown Escanaba available as well for smaller scale entrepreneurship.)

Lots of other good stuff to watch below. It is beneficial to see how local governance functions to improve prospects for local people and newcomers. 

Should We Do More to Protect Our Elders From Abuse?

Elder manipulation and abuse for financial gain is a despicable act against the nature of communal living and disrespectful to the lives of individuals. The act is immoral and so is turning a blind eye to such behaviors for social, racial, religious or ideological reasons with an intent to protect the "in group". Let us explore an example of elder abuse and in what situations where it may not be seen as immoral or worthy of correction. 

First look at some statistics on elder abuse and what people will do to even to their own family members. According to a USC Study on Family Abuse of abuse family engage in....

Nearly 62% of financial abuse cases
35% of emotional abuse cases
20% of elder neglect cases
12% of physical abuse cases
0.3% of sexual abuse cases

While these are some scary statistics we find that in some places such stats don't seem to have any bearing on moral conclusions. Closed systems occur where people who know each other allow these things to happen because of social homogeneous affiliations and its related pressures. In such situations, the elderly do not have much protection and there are few recourses to help them. 

 

Because such statistics seem dismal when it comes to family it should be known that greater protections would help in curbing these behaviors. Even more true if people are aware and based on these social affiliations did not report the perpetrators. 

While I do not have the resolution to such issues I can say that when it happens its is important to investigate and ensure that it hasn't happened and won't happen again. Sometimes there is a history of this in the past but signs were ignored for convenience reasons. 

I'm a supporter in enhancing any system to improve so as to best serve the needs of all people. 

The Psychological Benefits of Social Good

 When things get tough good people get tougher! Life can be dicey and when bad things happen we have to sort of learn to deal with it. Firefighters, military, police, EMT, victims and others deal with situations that are not always ideal. Sometimes people have to continue to put themselves in harms way in order to help others for Social Good.

There is a Silver Lining in it when its "not all in vain". Meaning, when we do good, even when it's risky, we can better create resilience in such dangerous work. We are contributors!

Firefighters can be especially prone to traumatic injuries but the vast majority continue to show up despite many doing so voluntary with no pay. The "greater social good" is a compelling motivator for first responders as well as attracting new ones.

The Benefits of Social Good

Escanaba Receives $18.9 EGLE Wastewater Grant

Escanaba receives $18.9 million for wastewater improvement. Escanaba EGLE Wastewater Grant. 

The grant provides an opportunity to improve infrastructure and that helps the city become increasingly an attractive place to live, invest and work. 

Grants are important to small communities like this. It is a good thing they are actively searching for them and putting to good use.

A Historical View of Paleontology in Delta County MI

This is an interesting video on the area and its land. I like when people do these things because we can learn from their knowledge.