Upper Peninsula Economic Development Alliance Data That We Track – September 2012

Greetings from the Sault! The last two days we had our Fall Meeting of the Upper Peninsula Economic Development Alliance, www.upeda.com, in Sault Ste. Marie. It was a great opportunity to learn and experience the two Saults, Canada and Michigan. There is lots of cooperation, discussion and work that is supporting regional development across the borders, very exciting.

The Data for September is really positive with respect to jobless rates. Every county experienced a decline. The summer had a better feel than the data had been suggesting and so maybe September’s survey is finally reflecting the summer’s hiring. The numbers are not seasonally adjusted and will make a shift the other way in winter, but for the time being, much of rural Michigan is outperforming the State and many counties have moved below the national jobless rate; so many good signs.

Recently Northern Initiatives made two hires. We first welcomed Margaret Lahti as a Portfolio Administrator, adding to our depth as we prepare for more loan volume. We have also brought on Dale Cook into a Commercial Lending role. Eventually Dale will give us more ability to cover the southern UP, which is an area rich in small businesses, and manufacturers. We will add one more Commercial Lender, hopefully before year’s end.

It looks like a sprint to year’s end at NI. This week our loan committees approved over $700,000 in new loans, and we have been approved by the SBA to sell our Community Advantage 7A loans. We will be working toward a sell before the end of 2012. Our website assessment product is proving to be very popular. We asked our interns to do a quick review of our UP Manufacturers web sites and they found that only about 20% appeared to be able to score highly on our web assessment tool. In other words, 4 out of 5 have work to do to improve their ability to make a great first impression, and potentially gain business. This is so critical for many businesses to overcome the rural challenges of distance, isolation and seasonality. Speaking of websites, ours which is dated, will be replaced before the end of the year, and the “we say we do” dilemma will be behind us shortly. Hopefully I will be giving you a launch date in November.

Finally as the holidays approach here is one of our customers whose product you might consider. Beth Millner is a graduate of the Northern Michigan University School of Art and Design, (a wonderful program to see up close should you ever get to campus). She is a jewelry designer and now retailer. She now has a storefront across the street from the location that will be the site of the expanded Marquette Food Coop. When you are in Marquette, visit her studio or you can see her jewelry on line at www.bethmillner.com.

MICHIGAN ▪ LOWER PENINSULA
County Name			Pop. 2010 US Census		Median HH Income 2010 US Census $51,914		% of State Median HH Income 2009 US Census	Un-employ-ment Rate Sept, 2012 US 7.8%		Poverty Rate 2006-10 US Census 13.8%		Children in Poverty (0-17) 2009 Kids Count Mi Data Book		% Bachelors Degrees; Adults over 25 2006-2010 Census 27.9%		Women Owned Firms US Census 2007 28.8%
Michigan Total	9,883,640 Red= decline between 2000 and 2010 (.6%)	$48,432 93% of US Median, Bold means increase in % to Mi since 2009		RED=<80% Blue =80 to 90% Black = 90 to 100%		Sept, 2012 9.3% MI-DLEG Red= higher than the Mich. Jobless Rate			14.8% Red = higher than the Mich. Poverty Rate		22.2% Red = higher than the Mich. Poverty Rate		Mich. 25% Red =<25% Bold increase since last report		Mich. 30.4% Red=<30.4% _ Data suppressed or sample size too small
Alcona	10,942 (6.6)	$34,858		72.%		9.8%			14.6%		29.9%		12.4%		20.4%
Alpena	29,598 (5.5)	$36,695		75.8%		7.7%			15.9%		24.3%		15.5%		27.5%
Antrim	23,530 2%	$43,123		89%		8.5%			15.5%		25.6%		23.3%		26.4%
Arenac	15,899 (7.9)	$36,689		75.8%		9.7%			16.5%		30.1%		10.6%		28.2%
Benzie	17,527 9.5%	$45,587		92.3%		7.3%			11.4%		21.5%		25.2%		24.6%
Charlevoix	25,949 (-.5)	$48,704		100.1%		8.8%			11.3%		19.5%		24.5%		28.1%
Cheboygan	26,152 (1.1)	$37,903		78.3%		5.3%			16.3%		26.1%		17.8%		30.2%
Clare	30,926 (-1)	$34,399		71%		9.8%			21.9%		36.8%		10.3%		22.9%
Crawford	14,074 (1.4)	$39,665		81.9%		8.4%			18%		31.2%		14.1%		-
Emmet	32,694 4%	$49,235		101.7%		8.4%			9%		17.4%		29.5%		24.4%
Gladwin	25,962 (1.3)	$37,936		78.3%		10.9%			19%		32.6%		11.1%		-
Grand Traverse	89,986 12%	$50,647		104.6%		6.6%			9.7%		14.9%		28.9%		24.7%
Iosco	25,887 (5.3)	$36,861		76.1%		9.4%			16.2%		32.7%		13.6%		30.3%
Isabella	70,311 11%	$36,880		76.1%		5.6%			29.7%		20.7%		25.8%		30.8%
Kalkaska	17,153 3.5%	$39,350		81.2%		8.4%			16.9%		28.3%		11.6%		41.6%
Lake	11,539 1.8%	$31,205		64.4%		10%			19.5%		42.5%		8.5%		15.9%
Leelanau	21,708 2.8%	$56,527		116.7%		5.7%			8.4%		14.4%		39.4%		27.1%
Manistee	24,733 .8%	$40,853		84.4%		8.2%			13.2%		23.7%		16.8%		27.5%
Mason	28,705 1.5%	$40,039		82.7%		7.5%			15.2%		26.4%		19.4%		25.7%
Mecosta	42,798 5.5%	$35,887		74.1%		7.5%			20.6%		26.2%		20.1%		-
Missaukee	14,849 2.6%	$40,376		83.4%		8.3%			14.4%		23.5%		12.9%		17.5%
Montmorency	9,765 (-5.3)	$34,447		71.1%		12.6%			17.6%		35.2%		10.6%		30.1%
Newaygo	48,460 1.2%	$43,218		89.2%		6.7%			17.3%		26.7%		13.2%		30.1%
Oceana	26,570 (-1.1)	$39,543		81.6%		8.5%			19.2%		33.7%		14.3%		20.6%
Ogemaw	21,699 .2%	$35,968		74.2%		8.2%			18.5%		30.5%		10.7%		-
Osceola	23,528 1.4%	$38,341		79.1%		8.7%			18.5%		28.7%		11.9%		29.5%
Oscoda	8,640 (-8.3)	$32,346		66.8%		12.4%			20.4%		32.9%		8.9%		17.4%
Otsego	24,164 3.7%	$45,531		94%		9.1%			12.1%		20.1%		19.4%		20.5%
Presque Isle	13,376 (-7.2)	$37,383		77.2%		10.8%			12%		24.5%		14.3%		17.3%
Roscommon	24,449 (-4)	$33,542		69.3%		9.1%			22%		42.1%		13.6%		22%
Wexford	32,735 7.4%	$38,587		82.6%		10.4%			17.3%		26.8%		16.4%		-
	366,179
MICHIGAN ▪ UPPER PENINSULA
County Name	Pop. 2010 US Census	Median HH Income 2010 US Census $51,914		% of State Median HH Income 2010 US Census		Un-employment Rate Sept, 2012 US 7.8%			Poverty Rate 2006-10 US Census 13.8%		Children in Poverty (0-17) 2009 Kids Count Mi Data Book		% Bachelors Degrees; Adults over 25 2006-2010 Census 27.9%		Women Owned Firms 2007 Census 28.8%
Michigan Total	9,883,640 Red= decline between 2000 and 2010 (.6%)	$48,432 Bold means increase in % to Mi since 2009		RED=<80% Blue =80 to 90% Black = 90 to 100% Green => 100%		Sept, 2012 9.3% MI-DLEG Red= higher than the Mich. Jobless Rate			14.8% Red = higher than the Mich. Poverty Rate		22.2% Red = higher than the Michigan Poverty Rate		25% Red =<25% Bold increase since last report		30.4% Red =<30.4% _ Data suppressed or sample size too small
Alger	9,601 (-2.6)	$38,262		79%		8.4%			12.3%		20.3%		16.9%		-
Baraga	8,860 1.3%	$40,541		83.7%		13.6%			12%		23.6%		11.4%		-
Chippewa	38,520 (-.1)	$40,194		83%		8.5%			17.7%		22.2%		18%		23.2%
Delta	37,069 (-3.8)	$41,951		86.6%		7.3%			12.7%		19.3%		18.7%		-
Dickinson	26,168 (-4.7)	$42,586		87.9%		6.5%			10.7%		16.3%		17.9%		-
Gogebic	16,427 (-5.4)	$33,673		69.5%		8.9%			17.5%		30.2%		18.6%		29.6%
Houghton	36,628 1.7%	$34,174		70.5%		6.9%			22.3%		20.3%		26.9%		24.1%
Iron	11,817(10.1)	$33,734		69.7%		7.1%			12.7%		24.2%		15.1%		-
Keweenaw	2,156 (-6.3)	$38,872		80.2%		7.8%			20.3%		22.7%		22%		-
Luce	6,631 (-5.6)	$40,041		82.7%		10%			17.4%		29.7%		13.5%		11%
Mackinac	11,113 (-6.9)	$39,334		81.2%		3.6%			14.7%		22.5%		20.1%		21%
Marquette	67,077 3.8%	$45,130		93.2%		6.2%			13.2%		15%		29.7%		-
Menominee	24,029(-5.1)	$41,332		85.3%		6.3%			12.2%		19.5%		13.4%		-
Ontonagon	6,780(-13.3)	$35,269		72.8%		10.7%			12.7%		23.4%		16.5%		27.6%
Schoolcraft	8,485 (-4.7)	$36,925		76.2%		9%			17.6%		25.3%		13.2%		-
	311,361