Community says hello to new CEOs

MARQUETTE — Three new business leaders were welcomed to the community at a special event Monday morning.

“We’re always accused of being a welcoming community, and so we had an opportunity to really highlight three brand new CEOs into our community,” said Amy Clickner, LSCP CEO. “I said, ‘let’s prove it.'”

The Lake Superior Community Partnership held a special event to welcome the new executives who recently joined some major business entities in the Marquette area. A wide variety of community leaders came out to greet the newly arrived CEOs of UP Health System – Marquette and the Innovate Marquette SmartZone and the General Manager for Lundin Mining.

“I think this really speaks volumes to the type of people we’re able to attract here in the Upper Peninsula,” Clickner added.

“It’s just great to see that we’re getting more people to come to our area, and it’s because of business development,” said State Representative Scott Dianda. “More jobs, better quality life in the U.P.”

The three new leaders have already found many positive aspects in the community.

“The level of sophistication and advanced procedures is as good here as any place I’ve worked,” said UP Health System – Marquette CEO Trent Crable.

“I’ve seen what it takes to create this ecosystem and to build the capabilities that are allowing entrepreneurs to start these companies, and one of the major fundamental pieces is you need to have leadership in the community that is behind it, that is supportive of it, and that’s what I’ve found here in Marquette,” Ray Johnson, CEO of the Innovate Marquette SmartZone said.

“It’s a really great area, really welcoming. Everybody’s friendly [and] wants us to be a part of the community,” said General Manager for Lundin Mining, Peter Richardson.

The business leaders also cited the proximity of Northern Michigan University as being beneficial to their operations.

“I look at the University as sort of the starting point and the germination place for ideas and innovators,” added Johnson.

Crable said, “They’ve got a lot of great programs. We’re trying to support those programs, and we’ve been in discussions about adding new programs.”

“We have training there, and of course we want to be part of them. There’s people that we can hire from the University, so it’s important for us,” said Richardson.

Having newcomers arrive in these fields presents other benefits for the community beyond their expertise.

“I can’t afford to do business attraction across the globe, however, bringing people in from outside the area and having them tell our story to their network does the same thing,” Clickner said.