By NATE HEFFRON

Cit of Negaunee

Negaunee is not too far away from launching one of the final objectives needed in becoming a certified Redevelopment Ready Community.

Just a reminder, a Redevelopment Ready Community (RRC) is a status a community can obtain after completing the MEDC’s RRC Program. This voluntary, no-cost certification program is designed to promote effective redevelopment strategies through a set of best practices.

The program measures and then certifies communities that integrate transparency, predictability and efficiency into their daily development practices.

One of Negaunee’s last steps or last best practice is the adoption of a marketing and branding plan. Recently this objective was met by the city, including the adoption of a logo with the adoption of both by City Council.

According to the MEDC, marketing and branding are essential tools for promoting a community’s assets and unique attributes. A marketing plan establishes goals and strategies for how a community should partner locally to build a consistent brand, tell our unique story, and attract new residents, visitors, businesses, and developments.

Under this plan the city intends to focus on the assets and unique attributes the residents of Negaunee revealed in a recent city-wide survey of over 400 respondents. These assets and attributes include our small town charm, historic character, natural outdoor beauty, ;recreational opportunities, and our community pride.

Along with these characteristics, this plan will focus on building toward Negaunee’s future while respecting her past. It will allow the city to transition from a mining economy to an outdoor recreation and tourism economy that showcases Negaunee as great place to invest, develop, and start a business. We can also promote select development sites that help to support city-wide goals such as creating new housing, promoting job creation/retention, and developing the outdoor recreation and tourism economy.

This plan also calls for a strict and methodical implementation. Who be responsible for this? Everyone who works for the city, but more specifically the City Manager and a newly proposed position of an Economic Development/DDA Director.

This proposed position will aid the city by focusing on implementation of the marketing and branding plan. The person in this role will also be responsible for helping manage the daily operations of the DDA, event coordination and planning, as well as business development and relations,

among other important tasks.

The final components of this plan includes both a logo and new tagline. The new logo will be used to quickly identify Negaunee through imagery and colors that represent the community. While the tagline, “Forge Your Adventure”, is a diversified statement that can be used for many circumstances while paying tribute to Negaunee’s mining past.

On behalf of the city, I want to thank all those individuals and organizations that were involved in helping in the development of this plan. Your hard work and dedication will serve Negaunee well for years to come.

As the city transitions from the successful Moving Forward Campaign, we are excited to move into the next chapter of Forge Your Adventure. With this change we will face some of the same challenges we have before. However, we will meet them, just like the pioneers that came before us.

This is the Negaunee grit, the very spirit that makes Negaunee a premier community to work, play, and live! Come Forge Your Adventure with Negaunee!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Nate Heffron is city manager of the city of Negaunee.