UPWard Update

March 5, 2014

Mission: A collaborative effort of the private and public leaders of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and adjoining Wisconsin counties to align and promote the region's resources, expertise, and creativity in order to sustain and grow the region's economy.

Please take a moment to review these updates from the UPWard Initiative.

I would like to thank the UPWard members, and others, that have provided content for these updates. If you have information you would like to share with the group, please email it to me. Holly Peoples

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Higher Education

Tech adds Honor College

The Daily Mining Gazette

HOUGHTON - Students at Michigan Technological University will be given another option to excel through the Pavlis Honors College and two new master's degree programs - a master of science in kinesiology and a master of science in accounting. The Board of Control voted during their regular meeting Friday to establish the honors college and new master's degrees to better serve their student population.

The honors college has been in the works for the past year. The Academic Affairs Committee has worked on the new addition and suggested that the board approve its creation.

"We have discussed this with the executive board, with faculty and with the students and everyone seemed to be excited," said Max Seel, provost and vice president for academic affairs. "When we went to the Senate they were unanimous in their support. I think it's the right thing to do for Michigan Tech and for the students."

The Pavlis Honors College is the first named college at Michigan Tech. The name honors 1938 Michigan Tech alumnus Frank E. Pavlis, who has been supporting Tech programs since 2005, when he underwrote the Pavlis Institute for Global Technological Leadership. The Pavlis Honors College will provide a home for signature leadership and research programs including the Pavlis Institute for Global Technological Leadership, the Enterprise program, the Honors Institute and the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program.

"It's a coordination of many activities and programs that are in place right now and with that coordination comes efficiency. Back to our previous discussion relative to the resources - the focus on leadership is never lost, that's a critical element of the education and the experience at Michigan Tech. It will be a good recruiting mechanism to help in that regard," said Terry Woychowski, board member.

Coordinating and bringing together those programs will help students succeed, Seel said. continue reading->

Education and Workforce Development

Ready for the competition - Sault Area High School robotics team prepares for Escanaba event

SooEveningNews.com

Members of Sault High's robotics club "The Instigators" are gearing up for the kick-off of competition season, with their first event taking place in mid-March.

The group of 12 - consisting of freshmen through seniors - finished up their robot on Tuesday night, before bagging and tagging the piece of technology so no more adjustments could be made. The students, along with their advisor and mentors, have spent the last few months readying the robot for competition.

"It was a long build season," Marcia Dettloff, club advisor, explained. "We had 12-hour work days on the weekends. But, everything works (on the robot). The kids are excited to compete."

The group's first challenge will take place in Escanaba, where schools from across Michigan will compete against each other. They'll work with two other robots, hoping their team can score the most points during the basketball-like game.

"This year, we'll have three robots working together from different teams," Dettloff said. "The robots will get points for catching, throwing and blocking the ball."

Sault High's robot can catch a ball, pick it up and throw it.

Initially, the robot was deemed Ms. Pac-Man. The students have considered changing that title, depending on the robot's final personality.

"It took two different designs this year to get what we have," Dettloff said. "We tested it and it wasn't what we wanted, so we got a new design."

The monies needed to build the robot, market the club and travel to competition are gathered through fundraisers, as well as donations from local businesses, individuals and the school board.

Local manufacturers and builders act as mentors for the group, allowing the students to use science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills in real-life scenarios.

continue reading->

Infrastructure

Dickinson qualifies for airport funds

The Daily News

IRON MOUNTAIN - Boosted by the addition of air ambulance flights, Dickinson County has squeezed past the threshold to qualify for $1 million in Airport Improvement Program funds.

Airports exceeding 10,000 annual passenger boardings are classified as primary airports under the Federal Aviation Administration's infrastructure program. The 2013 total for Dickinson's Ford Airport was 10,318, County Controller Nicole Frost reported Monday at a meeting of the county board.

The bulk of Ford's enplanements are through SkyWest Airlines, which provides Delta Connection commercial flights to Minneapolis. Those boardings fell 840 short of the 10,000-passenger threshold, said Frost.

The addition of medical flights and charter flights put the Kingsford airport over the top. The deciding factor was approval to include regional air ambulance flights provided by Integrated First Response-Great Lakes, which has housed an air ambulance at Ford since October 2012.

Dickinson County failed to meet the Airport Improvement Program threshold in 2012, but did qualify in 2011. Otherwise, the airport had been below 10,000 boardings since 1995.

"It will take some time to get to it," Frost said of the $1 million award, noting it depends on the federal budget calendar. The county is "still spending down" the award from 2011, she said. continue reading->

Tourism

Groundbreaking near for Keweenaw Point Trail

The Daily Mining Gazette

HOUGHTON - The Keweenaw Point Trail is nearing the jump from plans to reality.

Construction is slated to start this year on the first phase of the trail, a 3.5-mile section starting outside of Copper Harbor and going to the Mandan Loop at the end of U.S. 41.

The non-motorized, multi-use trail will follow the Lake Superior shoreline at the tip of the Keweenaw. The Copper Harbor Trails Club is also submitting a proposal to the Department of Natural Resources for the second phase, which would go from Mandan Loop to High Rock. The Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners approved sending a letter of support for the second phase at its meeting Wednesday.

Club president Aaron Rogers said the second phase would include about 2.5 miles of existing logging road, to which the club would build on up to five miles of new trail.

"We might be able to get approval and start construction for that by the end of this year," he said.

It will cost about $17,000 per mile for new construction, which the club will pay for itself.

While the club is actively raising money, it has no special fundraisers planned, Rogers said. It will have its annual soiree at the Orpheum Theatre at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Hancock.

The state of Michigan, working with The Nature Conservancy, acquired 6,275 acres of land in 2003 near the tip of the Keweenaw Peninsula to prevent private development and preserve public use. The acquisition brought the state's land ownership on the tip of the Keweenaw to 8,387 acres. continue reading->

SAVE THE DATE

MAY 7, 2014

UPWard Initiative

Tourism Conference

Marquette, Michigan

Education and Workforce Development

National Association of Workforce Boards Honors Local Board Member for Making Workforce and Economy More Vibrant

W.O. Lawton Business Leadership Award

A primary role of Workforce Investment Boards is to build relationships between businesses and public partners such as economic development organizations, education providers, and community and faith-based organizations. This is only possible, however, when a business steps up and makes a commitment to be a full partner in the board's endeavors. The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) has established the W.O. Lawton Business Leadership Award to annually honor a business or business organization, on a national stage, that made the commitment of time, money, and leadership to make their community's workforce and economy more vibrant.

The 2014 W.O. Lawton Business Leadership Award Grand Prize Winner is Tony Retaskie, executive director, Upper Peninsula Construction Council; chair, Upper Peninsula Construction Regional Skills Alliance; and board member of Michigan Works! The Job Force Board.

Retaskie's distinguished track record of success led to the grand prize honor this year. In December 2005, Michigan Works! The Job Force Board partnered with the State of Michigan to establish a Regional Skills Alliance (RSA) for the construction industry to address workforce and economic challenges in the region. The group was named the Upper Peninsula Construction Regional Skills Alliance. This industry-led group, comprised of trade representatives and construction industry management, has as its mission to recruit the best and brightest into the construction industry, by raising awareness among parents, students, job seekers, and educators. Tony is the chair of the RSA and provides leadership for the group's activities.

The construction and industrial trades industry contributes nearly $100 million to the Upper Peninsula economy annually, providing an average hourly rate of $22.74 plus benefits to workers. The partnering organizations known as the Upper Peninsula Construction Council (UPCC) and the Upper Peninsula Construction Regional Skills Alliance (UP Construction RSA) were formed for the following reasons: 1) an estimated 40 percent of the industry's workforce in the region was set to retire in the near future; 2) academic requirements and career awareness were not fully in place in education and workforce development systems, and 3) a projected 8.4 percent growth rate through 2021 made the industry among the region's top 10 growth industries.

One of UP Construction RSA's efforts to raise awareness of the high-demand, high-wage career opportunities in the construction and industrial trades industries has been the Industrial Trades Career Day, an innovative approach to blend career awareness with hands-on learning for high school students throughout the region. The UP Construction RSA teamed up with Michigan Works! The Job Force Board, the Upper Peninsula Construction Council (UPCC), local educators, and union representatives to support the 2013 event. They brought together over $10,000 in sponsorships, upwards of $2,000 in donated materials, elicited countless volunteer hours, and secured the use of the local trades' equipment. The UP Construction RSA provided leadership and guidance in the overall execution of the event from conception to evaluations and next-steps.

Over 400 high school juniors and seniors in six school districts from Delta, Schoolcraft, and Chippewa counties participated in the Industrial Trades Career Day in 2013. Some students traveled from three hours away to participate in this unique learning experience. The UP Construction RSA has hosted three events prior to 2013 with the latest event being the most comprehensive so far. During the 2013 experience students participated in a new type of career fair that provided interaction, simulations, and real-life hands-on activities to gain first-hand knowledge of career opportunities within the trades. The career day focused on the role math plays in the everyday life of a construction worker while on the job. Throughout the day, students participated in bricklaying, concrete finishing, welding, carpentry work, electrical wiring, iron working, climbing poles, and other trades activities. The UP Construction RSA's plan for the future is to provide an Industrial Trades Career Day in all regions of the Upper Peninsula. They are currently planning the next event to take place in Houghton County, Michigan in October 2014. This will be the first event in the Western Upper Peninsula. The Industrial Trades Career Day operates under the leadership of Retaskie.

Tony Retaskie is a driving force within the region's workforce investment system and is always looking for innovative ways to raise awareness in students about the construction trades. Tony's strong leadership to enhance the local workforce and economy was recognized by the NAWB who will be presenting him with the W.O. Lawton Business Leadership Award at their annual forum on March 29 - April 1, 2014, in Washington, D.C.

"I am honored to receive this award and thankful that it helps put some of our efforts in the UP on the map," said Retaskie.

The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) connects workforce development professionals, Workforce Investment Board members, and policymakers with the knowledge, training and tools to help make informed, smart decisions about how to invest in workforce strategies that advance the economic health of their communities through a skilled, competitive workforce. For more information on NAWB, visit www.nawb.org, and to see how this system helps keep America working, go to www.WorkforceInvestmentWorks.com.

Education and Workforce Development

Bay College in top 5 percent of U.S. community colleges

The Daily News

IRON MOUNTAIN - In a ranking of the top 50 community colleges in the United States, Bay College has earned the 30th spot in the annual list published in Washington Monthly magazine.

And this ranking has college officials excited - placing Bay College in the top five percent of community colleges in the nation.

According to President Dr. Laura Coleman, the ranking is based on a number of items - with the focal point being student success. The results are based on a survey, the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE), conducted of students attending the college.

According to Washington Monthly, Bay College received a 55.4 percent score in active and collaborative learning, 55.4 percent in student effort; 52.9 percent score in academic challenge; 56.2 percent in student-faculty interaction; 51.8 percent in support for learning; 55.4 percent in first-year retention; 44 percent in three-year graduation/transfer rate and 48.6 percent rank in credentials awarded per 100 full-time equivalent students.

"We scored well on graduation rate and retention as well as the level of student success. The survey looks at how much contact and interaction that our students have with their instructors and we do very well in that area," Coleman said.

Nearly 700 institutions participate in the CCSSE, and this year was the first year Bay College was included in the rankings - the only Michigan college in the top 50. There are more than 1,160 community colleges in the country.

Bay College provides this survey to students every other year. Other information that is used when determining the ranking comes from information annually compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education. continue reading->

Health Care

Jahn provides community update on state of War Memorial Hospital

SooEveningNews.com

SAULT STE. MARIE - A select number of community leaders got to find out more about new doctors, medical tourism and how lack of reimbursements has affected War Memorial Hospital Tuesday.

WMH President and CEO David Jahn gave the update at a luncheon at the Cisler Center on the campus of Lake Superior State University.

"Healthcare is a difficult business to be in," he told the group assembled. "Consolidation is occurring at a rapid pace. Our goal is try to remain independent and make local decisions and have local control."

The hospital leader said as the Affordable Care Act becomes more entrenched, the changes will force the hospital to have to worry about bad debts.

"Hospitals are the last to get paid. People will pay their vet bills before they pay their hospital bill," Jahn said. "That is why a lot of hospitals are consolidating."

Those in attendance heard the local hospital is looking to affiliate itself with a California facility.

"We can save about half a million dollars a year by affiliating with St. Joseph's Hospital out of Irvine, California," Jahn said. "It is a safe affiliation because we don't have to worry about patients going out there."

He gave an example of how the move can save WMH money.

"We will need to buy a new CT scanner soon to keep up with technology. If we are part of a big purchasing group, instead of paying $1 million, we may only have to pay $700,000," Jahn said.

"The board has taken the position we want to remain independent for as long as possible. What will happen in the future, who knows?"

The hospital leader said it would be a loose affiliation.

"It is a win-win situation. It is a way to cut half a million dollars with no impact locally," he said.

Jahn said the reason why other U.P. hospitals and those across the country are affiliating is because of a way to save money.

"Big hospitals are making lots of money. The large institutions of 1,000 beds or more are getting a return of 5-8 percent every year and the small hospitals struggle to break even or lose money every year," he said. "Last year, we will end up losing $500,000 to $1 million and we cut $750,000." continue reading->