U.P. Lawmakers Thanked For Supporting MTEC Smartzone

With more than 500 jobs already created, the MTEC Smartzone continues to impact the Keweenaw area.

But those new companies may never have gotten started without the help of our state legislators throughout the years supporting the Smartzone.

MTEC Smartzone CEO Marilyn Clark says that includes recent work done by State Senator Tom Casperson and State Representative Scott Dianda that extends funding for the Smartzone for another 15 years.

Clark said, “So the work that has started, we can leverage that and just go from success to success in the next fifteen years.”

Casperson says the MTEC Smartzone helps preserve one of our most precious resources–our young people.

Casperson said, “This process does exactly the opposite.  This process actually takes our children that are working and coming out of these universities and tapping into their talent and their expertise to create these small businesses, keep them here and create jobs.”

The investment in entrepreneurship has been paying off and Dianda says it’s important that lawmakers continue to support the Smartzone’s growth.

Dianda said, “Anybody we can encourage to come up here and start a business and hire our people and to take a look at our infrastructure and be able to invest in a lot of our older buildings, is a win-win for everybody up here.”