[Nigel Griswold]

Dear Regional Growth & Investment Stakeholders,

 

I hope the cancellation of last month’s meeting due to inclement weather does not slow this great momentum our group has towards growth and investment in our region!

 

Please see the attached agenda for the network meeting this month, along with the minutes from our last meeting. For your convenience during the meeting, please print off this packet if you have the opportunity.

 

For those of you who missed the meeting in November, the momentum of stakeholders focused on growth and investment in our regional city and village centers continues to grow. We had two great speakers: Todd Olson, Director of the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) gave a great presentation on the services his organization offers, which focus on securing government contracts for regional businesses and entrepreneurs; and, John Paul, Jr., CEO of The Bank of Northern Michigan provided great insights into the new regulatory environment bankers are facing since the financial crash in late ’08 and what that means for those who are in need of lending in this new fiscal policy environment. All very exciting and interesting.

 

This month, we welcome Josh Mills, Superintendant of the City of Frankfort to speak of the recent successes in actively pursuing placemaking opportunities in his area. We will learn about the strategies for leveraging unique assets as well as what Frankfort is looking towards in the future.

 

Among other updates, we will also cover the exciting ‘Northern Michigan Placemaking Summit: Investing in Our Cities, Villages & Commerce Centers,’ being held at the Hagerty Center on March 1^st. The event will focus on economic prosperity and economic development capacity throughout the cities, villages and commercial centers thoughout our region – the brochure is attached to your packet. This event is a direct spin-off of the capacity of this group – we are creating great value for the economic benefit of our region and bringing strong partners together.

 

Please consider the value attending this meeting may have for increasing the economic development capacity and network of your local municipality.

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

We hope to see you soon!

Please join us

 

Nigel G. Griswold
Regional Planner
Northwest Michigan Council of Governments

PO Box 506

Traverse City MI 49685-0506

nigelg...@nwm.cog.mi.us

P: 231.929.5056

F: 231.929.5012

nwm.org