Article Photos

MARQUETTE - More than 200 people attended Wednesday's 2009 Upper Great Lakes Economic and Workforce Development Summit at Northern Michigan University, discussing the summit's theme of bringing economic success to the Upper Peninsula.

"It was an incredible networking opportunity for people interested in the regional growth and development of the 15 counties in the U.P. and neighbors in Wisconsin," said Tawni Ferrarini, director of NMU's Center for Economic Education and Entrepreneurship, who attended the summit.

Organized by Michigan Works, the fourth annual summit was attended by representatives from the private and public sector, CEOs of larger U.P. corporations, K-12 and university educators and individuals interested in starting new businesses.

Presenters included Gene Stanaland, chief economist and president of GSE Inc., an economics and management consulting firm based in Auburn, Ala. He spoke about the current economic conditions businesses and residents are facing.

Rex L. LaMore, director of the Center for Community and Economic Development at Michigan State University, examined the influence of the 21st century global economy and its effects on the regional economic and workforce development in his keynote presentation.

"In these transformative times U.P. leaders and businesses must innovate and seek new ways to collaborate, create jobs and provide needed goods and services," LaMore said in a news release. "MSU's job is to identify and deploy the right combination of university resources to support this innovation and collaboration. Traditional economic development practices of the past no longer serve our needs in the 21st century."

Ferrarini said bringing in outside speakers provides a different perspective for the U.P. business community.

"Sometimes we have a tendency to pay attention just to our own," she said, adding that listening to the speakers from outside the area helped attendees see how the U.P. fits into the larger scheme of things and how it can relate to national trends and global opportunities.

For more information on the event, contact Michigan Works at 789-0558, ext. 216.