MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – On Friday morning, the Lake Superior Community Partnership (LSCP) welcomed a panel of local economic partners to discuss a few 2026 projections during its first Breakfast and Business meeting of the year.
In the Upper Peninsula, economic trends flow differently than with the rest of the Midwest. This tends to draw a line between economic developments and community standards. During the meeting, disagreements were seen between NMU Economic Professor, Joshua Ingber and InvestUP CEO, Marty Fittante on how growth can be obtained in Upper Michigan.
Ingber took considerations to how places like Traverse City have boomed, while Fittante stated that across the U.P., culture and community are what drives its own local growing economy.
LSCP CEO, Christopher Germain says these elements are what makes events like its Breakfast and Business series so necessary.
“This is exactly what it’s supposed to be,” he said. “We share ideas, we discuss ideas, we don’t always have to agree with each other on what happens. Clearly, we had some hard economic data and what that says, and then we had more of what we feel on the ground in what we experience. If we can’t talk about those things, we don’t get the benefit of either of them.”
Into the year ahead, Fittante teased at an upcoming for-profit venture fund that will invest into innovative projects out of Michigan Tech — only one of six similar programs in the country. Marquette will also see an economic development foundation beginning in May.
“We’re really excited by the fact that this is being stood up in the Upper Peninsula,” said Fittante.
As for the LSCP’s plans of 2026, Germain announced his departure as CEO in the coming early summer, stating the partnership’s ideals will remain the same through the transition.
“I have announced I will be stepping down, it was really a personal driven decision, I have to be closer to family downstate,” he explained. “The good news is I’m not going anywhere until we’ve identified my successor and we’ve had a chance to onboard them while I’m still here, so that our partners and our communities feel like we don’t skip a beat.”
Germain says postings for the position can be found here.
The LSCP will host it’s next Breakfast and Business meeting on Friday, March 27. For a full schedule, visit their website.
