Nate Heffron, city manager, city of Negaunee

NEGAUNEE - The city of Negaunee is the 2025 winner of the Michigan Municipal League’s Community Excellence Award.

The Negaunee Downtown Enhancement Project marks the third community from the U.P. that has won the CEA, after the city of Ironwood in 2013 and the city of Houghton in 2024.

“This is validation,” said Nate Heffron, city manager of Negaunee. “A lot of our residents had already said so, but listening to all the folks here at the League–the members from communities across the state–this tells us that we’re moving in the right direction.”

The Downtown Enhancement Project revitalized a neglected and dilapidated downtown commercial area. In addition to replacing aging water, sewer, and electric infrastructure, Negaunee’s downtown now features wider sidewalks, benches, bike racks, and attractive landscaping; as well as Iron Town Plaza, a new pedestrian area.

“For me, this validates that we got the right guy,” said Mayor Craig Ilmonen. “We have the city manager of all city managers that came in, has the vision. We’re seeing progressive building of our community. With the ideas that Nate (Heffron) has in mind, it’s only going to get better from here.”

The CEA is the league’s highest community honor.

“On behalf of the Michigan Municipal League, I’d like to send big congratulations to the city of Negaunee,” said League Board of Trustees President Josh Atwood, who also serves as mayor pro tem/commissioner of Lapeer. “Their project brought new life to a historic business district while celebrating the city’s rich history. The CEA has been a game changer for stirring up Michigan community engagement, civic pride, and economic growth at the local level.”

The CEA was first awarded in 2007 and has since been the League’s most prestigious community award. The competition for the honor is affectionately referred to as “The Race for the Cup” because of the large trophy that is presented to the winner each year. The 2024 CEA winner was Connecting Houghton; learn more about the project in the League’s Review magazine here.

The submission period for this year’s award was March 24-May 17; 14 communities submitted projects this year and preliminary voting to determine this year’s four finalists was done by a small voting board.