If You Missed Out

"learn about a developing opportunity for our community.”

            The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) has plans to create a multi-million-dollar research center somewhere along the shoreline between Marinette and Sturgeon Bay. We’d like to see this new National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) built here!

Some of you might have missed the online sessions held on April 12 and April 15 discussing a fantastic opportunity for the Menominee-Marinette area. The session is now online and available for streaming. Click here to access: NERR Kick-Off Event recording

            

            NERR describes Green Bay as the largest freshwater estuary with “significant cultural, economic, commercial and recreational benefits” derived from its water and coastal features. But both the Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan “face many challenges: changing water levels, flooding, coastal erosion, and harmful algal blooms.” Establishing a NERR here will provide science, monitoring, education, and research resources to help address these challenges. The advantages of a locally based NERR center will help coordinate the management, restoration, and protection of the Green Bay ecosystem. NERR is a national network of 29 sites across the coastal U.S., including the Great Lakes, whose purpose is to protect and study estuaries and their coastal wetlands.

            The possibility of a NERR site here is a remarkable opportunity for our area. This multi-million-dollar investment will attract visitors, provide outreach to our area schools, and will help to protect our freshwater. Please watch the video for more detailed information and continue that great spirit of cooperation demonstrated during the #mymarinettemenominee small-town competition. 

The Spirit of Cooperation

 

Our region is about to be the beneficiary of an amazing gift. The National Oceanic And Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) is going to build a research center (NERR) somewhere on the Bay of Green Bay. This multi-million dollar investment will attract visitors, and provide outreach to our area schools. At a location along the shoreline between Marinette and Sturgeon Bay, the folks at Green Bay NERR are looking for a place to call home. Can our welcoming enthusiasm attract this new community partner whose purpose is at the heart of what is essential to our family, friends, neighbors - freshwater? It was not that long ago when Menominee and Marinette residents worked together during the #mymarinettemenominee small-town competition.

Residents now have this unique opportunity to show that spirit of cooperation by attending a free virtual event, the National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) Kickoff Event. The programs are scheduled for Monday, April 12, from 4 to 5 p.m. and Thursday, April 15, from 7 to 8 p.m. Both events will have live captioning. Click here for More Information & Registration

The NERR is a national network of 29 sites across the coastal US, including the Great Lakes, designed to protect and study estuaries and their coastal wetlands. It represents the various biographic regions and estuarine types in this country. This initiative should be of interest to residents. Our location meets the definition of an estuary—it is where the tide meets the stream, the tidal mouth of a large river.

The virtual event offers a look into the importance of NERR. A fact sheet from NERR states: “Green Bay is the world’s largest freshwater estuary with significant cultural, economic, commercial, and recreational benefits derived from the water and coastal features of the Bay. However, the Bay of Green Bay and Lake Michigan face many challenges: changing water levels, flooding, coastal erosion, and harmful algal blooms. Establishing a National Estuarine Research Reserve  will provide resources to help Wisconsin address these challenges with targeted science, monitoring, education, and outreach.”

A Green Bay designated  NERR facility will offer “a coordinating force to manage, restore, and protect the Green Bay ecosystem.”

Please register for this exciting event and spread the news. Encourage your friends and neighbors to do so as well.

https://uwgreenbay.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_9zacp0tJcWfBO50

            Additional information is available by clicking on the registration link.     

USS Marinette

USS Freedom, the first in its class – courtesy of Skip Heckel

"From Humble Beginnings" Building fishing boats and barges - 
to building "Freedom Class" Littoral Combat Ships for the United States Navy.

The 1942 shipyard picture is from Marinette Marine archives

Courtesy of Menominee County Historical Society

Growing better is not about what you have but what you do with what you have. That concept has stuck with me since I was 15. Each morning mom had the aquamarine-colored transistor radio tuned to WGEM-1440 AM on the dial. Through the snap, crackle, and pop of breakfast, Radio host Earl Nightingale's message came in crystal clear to me that morning. He said, "Success is not about what you have but what you do with what you have. If you hear this, you have a heart, a brain, likely two hands, and two feet. With those universal features, no matter your lot in life today, living in this free country, you are equal to kings, queens, and those with entitled inheritance. It is not about what you have but what you do with what you have." From my modest surroundings that morning, this message stuck.

With the celebration of Fincantieri Marinette Marine's proud production of the namesake ship, the USS Marinette, this event reminds me of what I learned. The idea about what to do with what you have translates to our community. Our #MyMarinetteMenominee region has many assets--water, woodlands, and wildlife, to name a few. We have the advantage of an abundance of skilled jobs highlighted by Marinette Marine's growth story. Our concentration of industry jobs per-capita is a feature envied by other regions.

We have all we need to build a vibrant community. A vibrant place that keeps businesses healthy by attracting talent. We draw this talent by being a place people want to visit, stay, and make their homes. We have the freedom to be a vibrant small town with an open-air lifestyle. A region where our children and grandchildren would choose to stay, belong, develop, and contribute their talents. This betterment is how we enrich the lives of households in our community. What will we do with what we have? Our businesses and industries bring people here to provide services, consult, and work. The story they tell their companies, families, and friends back home can attract them to become our resident talent.

What is the voice in your head telling you about visitors? Do you welcome them? Is it your nature to invite and include new people? What do you tell them about living here? Without anyone else's permission and at little to no additional cost, you can choose to love living here. Please welcome visitors with the story of why you love living here. Decide to do all you can with all we have to create a better future for our children, grandchildren, family, friends, and neighbors.

Our Small Town Economy

The Lobby of 1st National Bank Menominee, 1930
Courtesy of The Menominee Historical Society

Independent stores return more than three times as much money for you, your family, friends, neighbors, and non-profit groups, as your dollar spent at other retailer options. ( www.amiba.net )

In It's a Wonderful Life, Frank Capra's 1946 holiday classic, the story of Bailey Brothers Savings & Loan echo’s the timeless formula for our small-town economy.

Mr. Potter wanted to close that "old run-down savings and loan." George Bailey, in a grey scene, stood in the middle of an angry crowd. George chose to sacrifice his postmodern dreams and stayed to protect what mattered more.  In that all-is-lost moment, when Bailey Bros. Savings & Loan customers were ready to sell-out, George responded: "You're thinking about this place all wrong! Don't you see? Your money is in Joes' house, that's right next to yours, and the Kennedy house, and Mrs. Mackland's house, and a hundred others. You're lending them the money to build, and they are going to pay it back to you best they can. Now, what do you want me to do, foreclose on them?"

Like that depression era story, we are experiencing an all-is-lost moment. To protect our local economy, George would say: Don't you see? When you deposit your paycheck in the local community bank and use it to buy groceries, gas, insurance, home repairs, and a hundred other things locally, you're helping to pay your neighbors' salaries because locally-owned businesses employ them.  Those businesses buy from other local businesses, it is those businesses that support local charities, and that money recycles back to you, your family, friends, neighbors, and non-profit groups.

When we prioritize our budget, We're doing our part. That means when we buy from local independent businesses first, we protect our future shopping options, preserve what is valuable and unique to where we live, and do our best for our family, friends, neighbors, and charities. Chain stores and mass merchants still have their part to play. They fill-in for our other needs and support local employees too. If buying local is not possible, as the last option, we can still turn to Amazon.

Here's what this looks like in real life. Choose three locally owned businesses you don't want to lose. Turn to those first, to buy as much as you can from them. At little to no extra cost, buy what you usually do. $60 spent at each independent business might not seem like enough, but together, our efforts multiply to keep them in business.

We don't need anyone else's permission to make a difference. Our community is experiencing unemployment, business closures, and stressed budgets like the depression era.  But just like then, we hold the key to helping each other through this.

 

 

Growing Better

Photo provided by – The Menominee County Historical Society

What will our community be like post-COVID-19? It's worth considering now because we gain the most when we learn from the past and build on past successes.

Building on what we have, the Menominee City Council voted to support the Menominee Downtown Development Authority's (DDA) proposed extension of the Menominee Downtown District. EH Extra Downtown District to be Extended this initiative will help the Downtown expand a valuable connection to the 26,839 Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT), which passes through the intersection of 10^{th Ave.} & 10^{th street}. That connection of traffic to downtown is vital because of its potential to attract travelers to Menominee's Historic Waterfront Downtown. When we expose people to our unique combination of water views and preserved architecture, it will support our downtown businesses' growth. Those businesses are the future of the downtown area and, in turn, contribute to a more enjoyable, attractive, and beautiful place for those of us who live in the #MyMarinetteMenominee area.

If only a fraction of those 26,839 daily travelers discover Menominee's Downtown, it will build on a resource we already have. Developing this strength leads us to the betterment of the area. 

In its heyday, Menominee's downtown area was bustling and vibrant. The old Montgomery Ward department store and A&P grocery store brought in shoppers from far and wide. A hotel, women's dress shop, diner, drug store, bank, movie theater, opera house, jewelry store, salon, and other businesses brought in customers from the twin city area and the county as well. Past holiday activities in the downtown area captured some of that nostalgia. Many visitors enjoyed rides in horse-drawn wagons while listening to sleigh bells signaling the start of holiday and shopping activities. Holiday markets, art fairs, concerts, antique car shows, and festivals brought customers to the downtown area as well. This year's pandemic will influence how we celebrate, but it does not prevent us from making plans now for the future. Streetlights with their holiday decorations can still cheer us and brighten our nights as we ponder our plans.

Each one of us has a role in becoming better. Without anyone else's permission, and at little or no extra cost, you and I can support our downtown businesses. Please help them to not only survive but to thrive! Downtown businesses are essential to a vibrant downtown. A vibrant downtown is the heart of a better post-pandemic community. 

 

Growth as Betterment

Opening the door to growth, the Menominee City Council voted to join the Menominee County Brownfield Authority (Eagle Herald, September 22, 2020)

Mention the word "growth," and you will receive a variety of reactions. Some folks will express fear, others' excitement, and others a disclaimer. These are natural reactions during regular times and expected during the past few months' uncertainties.

But what is growth? More specifically, what is the mindset of growth?

The internet defines mindset as a habitual mental attitude determining how one will interpret and respond to situations. Other words for growth include prospect, mental capacity, outlook. But the same-meaning name I like best is "betterment."

How do we, both individually and as a community, improve our hopes, dreams, and outlook to be better regarding the future of the #MyMarinetteMenominee community? How do we continue to build a vibrant community where our youth will want to stay? How do we build a community where their talents will be nurtured and thrive? How do we shape our minds to better open the doors for those seeking opportunities in the best interest of our local community?

Mindset is an integral part of community growth. How do we better shape our minds and grow them to seek opportunities in our best interests? It is easy to find fault, to focus on what we cannot change. But this mindset, this steering away from growth, is forgetting that we have the power to overcome most obstacles.

Our minds are powerful tools as we travel towards betterment. Ask any coach, ask any teacher. They inspire their players; they emphasize their positive traits and teach them how to correct their weaker areas. With hard work, positive coaching, and an open mindset, the goal is reached--growth as betterment.

Because the path to better is uphill, we are either moving forward or rolling back. Cultivate an open mindset to help overcome the fear which might accompany growth. Focus on choices reflecting quality. Do we work together to build this community and all it offers to make it a place where people choose to live, one where they decide to relocate here? Do we choose to love living here and create the type of culture people want to identify with and belong to?

Please watch for and support ideas for betterment that come from this Brownfield Economic Development tool.  As plans emerge, if you have questions, please discuss them with someone driving the effort. While we all see things differently, there is common ground to be cultivated.

 

A Chance for Something Better

 

Kmart - M&M Plaza - 2010

M&M Plaza Enterprises now controls the 10.68 acres of land that we formerly leased to Kmart. With this change, we are relieved to be able to fix up and maintain the property to avoid the potential of a blighted scene. Like you, we are sad at the loss of what was for years an important part of our local landscape. 

We now feel the tension created by costs involved in reclaiming this land to serve our community’s future. We ask for your patience as change progresses, a change akin to restarting a garden that has been dormant for years. Now we are assessing, preparing to wait out winter’s pause, choosing what will grow, and preparing to sow in an unpredictable environment, all before we will see the results. We are anxious because the journey seems long but at the same time, we are motivated by the possibilities of what can be created if we respect the natural process. 

I have talked to people here about the history of the M&M Plaza. The Gustman family created the plaza from swampy, tall grass and weeds 50 years ago. Since then, a wide variety of businesses have come and gone, each reflecting our changing times. 

You and I are currently undergoing a time of accelerated changes. I do not have to name them as all of us have been affected during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It is only natural to not want to face more change when so much, on both a national and world level, have been forced upon us. But we are encouraged by the one thing that has remained constant and that is our residents’ ability to adapt. 

Once again Menominee residents are being called upon to use that same vigor, enthusiasm, and ingenuity to imagine an even better future for our area. 

The M&M Plaza’s oversight of the former Kmart acreage is a positive move for the community. M&M Plaza Enterprises have taken the first step by requesting a Special Use Permit to open options for provisional use. The Menominee City Planning Commission will consider that request in alignment with the help of the Smith Group, a Michigan-based planning group hired to update the city’s master plan. The Master Plan’s purpose is to help the town envision its future role and it establishes the parameters of how we can develop this site. This support is vital to our ability to cultivate the potential of the former Kmart site.

You can help, without anyone else’s permission and at little or no extra cost, by being informed in your support, and patient with the time it takes to grow what is possible for our community.

Eagle Herald Letter to the Editor

 @MyMarinetteMenominee