Contact for More Information: Tim Ervin
231-723-4325
For Immediate Release
THE GATEWAY TO M-22:
Communities Announce Grant to Develop Businesses and Jobs Along M-22 Corridor in Onekama and Arcadia Townships
Onekama, Michigan -- Business and community leaders, residents and visitors will celebrate at 12 noon on September 1, 2009 the launching of a grant-funded project to develop businesses and jobs at the southern “Gateway to M-22,” encompassing Onekama and Arcadia Townships in Manistee County.
The kick off will be held at Feldhak Park in the Village of Onekama, located at the intersection of M-22 and 8 Mile Road at the east end of Portage Lake. Community leaders will offer some brief remarks, followed by a “Gateway to M-22” ribbon cutting. Refreshments featuring locally grown foods will be provided.
The project is funded through a Rural Business Enterprise grant of $30,000 from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The grant was secured and will be administered by the Alliance for Economic Success, the economic development organization serving Manistee County, in partnership with the Onekama and Arcadia communities.
One project phase will implement the economic development provisions of a new joint master plan between Onekama Township and the Village of Onekama. A community leadership team will be formed to ensure all interests are involved in:
- The potential creation of an Onekama Downtown Development Authority
- Seeking funding to establish community-wide broadband capacity
- Developing a streetscape plan
- Developing tools and plans to improve farming and agricultural production and viability
- Developing and implementing a focused business attraction strategy
- Establishing definitive plans, roles, responsibilities and funding sources for other community enhancements which include bikeways and pathways
“This grant will ensure that we convert plans into meaningful action,” said Doug Callaway, owner of Callaway Construction in Onekama. “It will help us develop the infrastructure and the tools to bring businesses, jobs and families to our communities.”
The other phase of the project will be guided by a leadership team representing Onekama and Arcadia Townships to develop an economic development strategy for the southern gateway to M-22 that runs north to south through the two townships. That plan will include:
- An inventory of businesses and cultural, natural, recreational and historic resources
- An identification of state, regional and local agencies involving in promoting, marketing or developing the area
- An assessment of permanent and seasonal demographics and the need for specific types of retail, commercial or agricultural-based businesses that will be used in a business attraction strategy
- An identification of how recreational resources and other investments could support community and economic development, including trail and path systems
- Opportunities for public input throughout the process
- A proposed organizational framework for plan implementation and fund development for the economic development strategy involving the two townships
“We want to support the planned growth and development of businesses and jobs and it just makes sense for Onekama and Arcadia Townships to partner since they share so much in common, in addition to M-22,” said Alan Anderson, Resource Specialist with the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development office in Traverse City, Michigan. “This project will enable the communities to consider all of their natural attributes and features in building a blueprint for jobs that will be in their best long-term interests.”
Onekama and Arcadia Townships are the southern Gateway to M-22 and include Portage Lake and Arcadia Lake and their channels to Lake Michigan, the villages of Onekama and Arcadia, as well as marinas, a range of lodging options, niche-based retail shops, two golf courses, orchards and farmers’ markets, fine dining restaurants, art galleries and outstanding fisheries. The K-12 Onekama Consolidated School District serves both Townships and is benefitting from a $14 million renovation and improvement supported through a local millage. The two Townships host sand dune complexes, nature areas, wetlands, rolling orchards and open space.
The M-22 corridor is a 116.5 mile loop around the majestic Lake Michigan coastline, through Manistee, Benzie and Leelanau Counties to Traverse City. M-22 provides entrée to vast tracts of state and national park land; a highly productive agricultural region; Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore; world-class golf courses; recreational harbors; inland lakes; rivers and streams; as well as unique villages and towns.
The USDA grant reflects a progression of community development since 2006 when the County’s first comprehensive visioning effort was completed, Envision Manistee County. A number of funders have supported implementation of the visioning initiative, including the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, Michigan Coastal Management Program, Oleson Foundation, Manistee County Community Foundation, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Michigan State University Small Town Design Initiative and private donations to locally-focused endowments managed by the Manistee County Community Foundation. Funding support has enabled development of: the State-approved Portage Lake Watershed Forever Plan; the joint Master Plan between the Village of Onekama and Onekama Township; and a community ordinance to help implement the Master Plan.