Client:
Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the Ojibwa Nation
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is a resource rich economy dependent upon the mining, refining, and sale of iron, copper, and nickel; growth, logging, and milling of lumber and forest products; and tourism.
Economic Diversification Strategy:
Economic Analysis, Asset Assessment, Industrial Strategy, and Project Concepts
The Michigan Economic Development Corporation engaged Lupke to conduct an asset inventory and develop a series of strategies and project concepts, inclusive of manufacturing, to reduce dependence on resource-based industries and grow value-added alternative industries.
Our Approach:
The focus of the work was in the far northern counties of Michigan, Houghton and Baraga Counties, and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community of the Ojibwa Nation.
Project concepts focused on a small but significant and growing concentration of employment and talent in metal fabricating uncovered during the location analysis.
This concentration was notable because manufacturing in general, and metals in particular were in decline ion the Upper Peninsula.
Outcomes:
Initiatives stressed connecting and reinforcing key assets of the Michigan Technological Institute and the existing small metal fabricators, and the supply chain of major manufacturers in Michigan and Wisconsin; identifying gaps in the supply chain for joint ventures; and research and innovation-based entrepreneurship int he metals industry/
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Through a four-part process: Economic Position Assessment, Asset Inventory, Industrial Strategy, and Alternative Scenario Analysis.
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Lupke demonstrated the potential for ten Nation owned business strategies.
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Key Asset Identification
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Uncovered Nicge Capacities
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(10) Business Concepts