Technology, Creativity, and Collective Efforts Could Make Our Area Thrive

EDITORIAL - by Jim Albert - Friday, October 22, 2010 - Back on August 18th, the Detroit Free Press announced that an Ann Arbor-based computer network group, the Merit Network, will get a $70-million federal grant to construct a 1,200-mile line offering high-speed linkups in Michigan's Upper Peninsula with connections to the Lower Peninsula and Green Bay, Wisconsin, and Duluth, Minnesota, as well.

According to the article, the Upper Peninsula network will offer speeds between 100 megabytes-per-second and 10 gigabytes-per-second. This incredibly fast Internet network combined with the largely unused bandwidth in the area could prove to be an attractive combination to Internet-based, Internet-reliant, or Internet-enhanced businesses from "broadband congested" areas like Minneapolis.

The Internet is changing the way people do business. People no longer need to punch in at their brick and mortar jobsite. They don't have to stay in a big city living the "hustle and bustle" lifestyle. They can pretty much do their work anywhere they want to. Younger people who are into the outdoors and all of the activities the outdoors offer will be attracted to the area, especially with the addition of ultra-high-speed Internet access.

We need to start doing a better job of promoting our area. Recent efforts by area groups are a step in the right direction. Fe Live Life, for example does a good job showcasing the quality of life we have, and the wide variety of adventures available to us. We need, however, to start developing and promoting the area as a Mecca for technology businesses. If people living and working in the cities find out that we have virtually unused bandwidth; ultra-high-speed Internet access; relatively low rents and property costs; and a reasonably low cost of living, the U.P. and Northern Wisconsin could easily become a haven for Internet businesses.

With that said, I believe it is very important that our schools (our high schools and the college alike) need to expand and improve computer education. Our students need to be computer savvy upon graduation. We need to start training our students to be IT specialists. They need to be familiar with website design. They need to understand how e-commerce works. They need to understand Internet-based business and data security.

Having a well-trained, computer literate workforce in our area will make us even more inviting for Internet-based businesses to locate here. Those students, with the proper training, who like living here wouldn't be forced to move if we work to develop the area into a technology base. Existing businesses could be greatly expanded and improved by adding e-commerce sales. Several local retail locations have increased their sales dramatically by selling their products online.

I think it's time for the Gogebic Range to start working together to make the most of what we have here. We need to start promoting the area as a tech center. We also need to start creating jobs from within. Industries aren't exactly pounding at our door to locate here. For some time I've been kicking around an idea that would create jobs and help local businesses at the same time. Our area has several "mom and pop shops" that have become legendary for their locally made products. The Bell Chalet, for example, is famous for their pizza and their Caesar's Salad. I suggest that our local governments work closely with the owners of the Bell Chalet to develop, manufacture, and distribute frozen Bell pizza and bottled Caesar's Salad dressing. We are not so far off the beaten path that these items cannot be manufactured here and trucked to distribution centers a few miles south of us. This could be a cooperative effort between local government, the owners of local businesses to create jobs. Stock could be sold to local investors to help finance the start-up and operational costs, if neccessary.

Businesses that are surviving in our area make things here and sell them out of the area. Food products are a relatively stable item to produce because, no matter how the economy fluctuates, people will always need to eat. Fewer and fewer people today make their meals from scratch. The frozen food industry is expanding each and every year, and with the proper effort, our area could become well known as a food producer. How many regional favorite foods and snacks can you think of? Joe's Pasties are sent UPS throughout the country. There is no reason they couldn't be mass produced and distributed on a large scale.

I would like to see our local governments working in other ways to help create jobs here as well. Logging is one of the area's biggest industries. Would it be possible for us to work with the logging industry to bring added value to the logs we are producing? Instead of exporting raw materials out of the area, wouldn't it be better to bring added value to the materials before they are exported? Would it be possible to build a paper plant nearby? Or perhaps a furniture manufacturing plant or a cabinet company? How many jobs could be created?

If our industrial park businesses partnered together, they could start manufacturing new products and, at the same time, they could create new jobs. As an example, let's imagine for a minute that we started to manufacture Texas Hold 'Em card tables. Texas Hold 'Em is a poker game that has become extremely popular in this country. Would it be possible to create a co-operative effort that would boost sales for our industrial park businesses and at the same time, develop new employment opportunities? The table bases could be constructed by Cramblit's. The table tops could be manufactured out of plywood from Bessemer Plywood. The plywood tops could be upholstered by Jacquarts. The hardwood table components could be supplied by Bratu's or Superior Hardwoods. Molds could be created for plastic cup holder rings, chip holders, chips, etc. by one or more of the local tool and die makers. The plastic components could be manufactured by Ironwood Plastics.

All of the components could be transported to our empty spec building. Workers could assemble the components, package the finished products and ship them out to distribution centers. And, if it works for poker tables, there is no reason we couldn't expand our product list to include other products. How many jobs could be created? How could this help existing businesses?  How could this impact our local economy?

Well, I've babbled on long enough. My ideas may seem to be pipe dreams and to many they appear to be impossible. However, with the proper focus, the proper attitude, and the advice and assistance of the right people... people who have track records of success... they could very well turn this area around.

Jim Albert