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The fifth year of the Western U.P. Regional Prosperity Initiative has been funded and is now underway.
The Regional Prosperity Initiative (RPI) was begun by the State of Michigan in 2014 as a means to encourage regional collaboration of organizations in a time of dwindling resources, overlapping goals, and competing priorities. Competitive funding has been made available since 2014 for regional and metropolitan planning organizations that have chosen to apply.
The Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR), the planning and economic development organization serving the six western counties of the U.P., has been awarded $220,897 for 2018.
Over the last four years, WUPPDR has facilitated regular meetings of the Regional Prosperity Collaborative, the leadership group for RPI, to plan for and implement priority projects to benefit the regional economy and to promote efficiencies.
Projects continuing in 2018 from previous years are:
1. Energy Efficiency & Clean Energy Outreach: In 2017 RPI helped establish the Western U.P. Energy Audit Program which offers technical assistance to businesses in the Western U.P. to identify energy efficiency investment opportunities and leverage existing energy efficiency program resources. WUPPDR will continue its outreach efforts matched by a $58,000 grant from USDA and to facilitate energy planning workshops in the Western U.P.
2. Western U.P. Trails Database: Partnering with other planning regions in Lower Peninsula and The U.P., WUPPDR will build upon the previous year’s investment in a Western U.P. recreation trail inventory and establish a U.P.-wide trail dataset hosted by Up North Trails (www.upnorthtrails.org).
3. Placemaking Support: Building on placemaking projects funded in 2017, WUPPDR plans to award a $10,000 grant for a high-impact project to foster vibrant communities. The chosen project will then be required to perform a crowdfunding campaign through Patronicity for a chance to be matched by MEDC to score even more money for the project.
4. Regional Geographic Information System Phase 2 (GIS): Building upon the previous year’s RPI investment, WUPPDR will partner with one or more local governments and Michigan Technological University to pilot the Western U.P. Regional GIS program. This pilot program will help establish data migration, maintenance, access, and end-user training processes that can be replicated across the region and help establish a fee-based, selfsustaining Regional GIS. This phase will demonstrate value of utilizing GIS at the local government level and help establish data-driven asset management.
5. Pure Michigan Regional Marketing Campaign for the U.P.: For the third year, in partnership with other private and public entities, WUPPDR will contribute match funding to a U.P.-Wide Pure Michigan regional marketing campaign.
Projects new for 2018 are:
6. Marketing Mini Grants: Many communities recognize the value of marketing to attract new residents, businesses, and tourists; however, they often lack the financial resources and expertise to develop professional marketing plans and materials. WUPPDR will provide community marketing mini-grants to help develop and/or update marketing plans and
materials and existing community assets.
7. U.P. Brewery & Winery Trail: Agritourism is a growing economic driver for many communities in the United States. Leveraging the Upper Peninsula’s burgeoning craft brewery and winery industries, WUPPDR is partnering with the Western U.P. Regional Chamber Alliance and related organizations, with input from Regions 1b and 1c, to create a marketing, implementation, and financing plan for a yet-to-be-named “trail” of breweries and wineries to promote this specialty tourism Upper Peninsula.
For more information about WUPPDR’s RPI program and meetings, all of which are open to the public, visit www.wuppdr.org/rpi or contact Jerry Wuorenmaa at jwuorenmaa@wuppdr.org. For general information about the state initiative, visit www.michigan.gov/dtmb.
