MARQUETTE — The highly anticipated SmartZone in Marquette is putting together the final pieces of the puzzle.

It’s being called the ‘Innovation Marquette SmartZone’. Like the SmartZone in the Copper Country, the Marquette SmartZone will help new technology entrepreneurs get their operation up and running.

A 15-year financing plan to fund the new Marquette SmartZone was recently approved by the state’s treasury department. Now, there are just a few things left that the SmartZone’s Board of Directors must figure out before they start to operate on a regular basis.

“This SmartZone Board is very consciousness. They don’t want to misfire on that executive director position. They want that to be the right person because that person is going to be crucial in driving grants and driving the projects forward,” said Rosemary Smith, the secretary for the Marquette SmartZone.

“We already have several SmartZone clients identified that have products that they would like us to work on for them. There is the demand and there is the infrastructure in place. Now it’s a matter of getting the executive director on board so that we can move forward,” added Smith.

The Marquette SmartZone is still in the process of finding a location to call home. The creation of the Marquette SmartZone will be the 14th of its kind in Michigan.