MARQUETTE — Marquette County’s Economic Club had a very special guest Monday night from the Motor City.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan came to speak at the Economic Club dinner. Duggan was elected in 2013, and has put a lot of work into helping Detroit thrive again. But, he says that his city isn’t all that different from Marquette.

“The very first meeting I was in, the first thing I was asked about was dark stores. I said we have a big box proposed to go into the state fair grounds in Detroit and I’m refusing to allow it till they agree to treat us fairly on the taxes. Then I got up here and found out the people of Marquette have exactly the same issue. There’s a lot of things that tie us together,” said Mayor Duggan, “You know, I’ve already seen a lot. The Innovation Center at Northern Michigan is fascinating in the way they’re taking your talented students and helping people develop business ideas. It’s just been really an interesting twelve hours so far.”

Duggan was invited to speak at the Economic club by Representative John Kivela. The dinner was sponsored by Snyder’s Drug Stores.