Marquette Small-Town Success

Marquette business leaders had a chance to hear a first-hand evaluation this morning of just how well the city is doing as a small city and how it stacks up to similar communities.

The group discussed recent city achievements as well as future goals.

One thing that was agreed upon was how well city leaders have done in making Marquette a unique place.

Dave Ivan of Michigan State University Extension says the city can take pride in its efforts to redevelop the waterfront and the downtown area over the last ten years or so.

The group did look at different ways the community can help make the city of Marquette even better.

Ivan says two ways to do that might be to engage Northern Michigan University more completely within the city and to bring the city’s assets — like the waterfront, NMU and Marquette General — together more effectively.

Ivan compared Marquette to two communities in Minnesota, saying that Bemidji and Duluth are setting good examples for Marquette to follow.