Housing, Manufacturing & More at the
Annual Economic Summit

We are less than one week away from our largest event of the fall, the Traverse Connect Annual Economic Summit. We look forward to welcoming the business community for a day of networking and economic outlook discussions with experts from across the state.

Included with each Annual Economic Summit ticket is admission to Quick Connect from 9-11 a.m. Enjoy coffee and a light breakfast while making new connections with business and community leaders to help build your network.

We are happy to have Quentin Messer, Jr., Chief Executive & Economic Competitiveness Officer for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and Chair of the Michigan Strategic Fund, to provide economic insight from a national and state level.

We will also have a panel discussion to focus more specifically on the Grand Traverse region, featuring manufacturing and construction industry experts. Office of Rural Development (ORD) Deputy Director Sarah Lucas will preview the key initiatives the ORD will be collaborating on with agencies and offices across state government.

As always, thank you to our sponsors for helping us host: Presenting Sponsor Fifth Third Bank, Beverage Sponsor Comfort Keepers, Quick Connect Breakfast Sponsors ITC and MSU Federal Credit Union, Quick Connect Music Sponsor Bay Area Transportation Authority and Economic Outlook Luncheon Stage Sponsor Consumers Energy.

News from Traverse Connect that you might have missed.

→ Our Director of Government Relations, Henry Wolf, joined Housing North to speak on a panel at their 8th annual Northwest Michigan Housing Summit last week. Housing advocates, nonprofit leaders, government officials, and others gathered in Traverse City to discuss the housing crisis. Listen to the keynote address by Yusuf Dahl here.

→ Traverse Connect is one of five organizations working to develop a Freshwater Research and Innovation Center in Traverse City that will offer research, education, commercialization, incubation, and acceleration programs. Learn more about Phase One of this project and our partners, Michigan Tech, NMC, 20Fathoms, and Discovery Center & Pier.

→ Mentee applications are open for the 2023 Community Mentoring program until November 18. This is a four-month cohort-based program with the expectation that nine meetings between the mentor and the mentee will take place during that time period. Mentees will be matched 1:1 with participants using a strengths-based model.

Our midweek reading list.

→ Last week, Governor Gretchen Whitmer joined the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to announce the expansion of Traverse City Whiskey Co. through the Michigan Strategic Fund, which is expected to provide over 100 good-paying jobs to the region.

→ Six regional businesses were awarded a total of $100,000 in grants from Michigan’s Industry 4.0 Technology Implementation Grant to “help with the awareness and integration of the latest manufacturing technology.”

→ A new report identifies the current and future needs of downtown Traverse City and makes recommendations for how the Downtown Development Authority is funded and governed.

→ New rulings from the Michigan Court of Appeals have implications for two highly contested topics in downtown Traverse City: building height and the FishPass at the Union Street Dam.

→ This month's Traverse City Business News Book Review by Chris Wendel dives into the recently-released All About Old Towne by city resident Marty MacLeod. The book uncovers photos and stories that chronicle the history of Traverse City.

Traverse Connect's upcoming in-person and virtual events.

November 7 from 9 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

November 15 from 8:45 - 10:00 a.m.

December 13 from 2:30 - 5:30 p.m.

Thursdays in November

November 17 from 8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Featuring Paul Britten

A new buzz is growing in the Traverse City technology scene: Blue-Tech.
Last night's TCNewTech pitch night featured Traverse City's growing Blue Tech industry with pitches from startups and companies in the water innovation space from all over the state. Our president and CEO, Warren Call, spoke to Traverse Connect's partnerships and plans to harness the freshwater assets of the Grand Traverse Region for blue tech innovation. Watch the presentations now!

November 2, 2022

Housing, Manufacturing & More at the Annual Economic Summit

Housing, Manufacturing & More at the
Annual Economic Summit