ESCANABA — On a busy afternoon, just over two weeks ago, the Commerce Center hosted an impromptu media event on the fairgrounds largely to thank the media and those in attendance for their unyielding support of the Commerce Center, the U.P. State Fair and the Greater U.P. Community.

Ten years ago, almost to the month, we held one of the first public meetings to discuss how our communities could work together to save the U.P. State Fair when the state of Michigan made the decision to end appropriations to the two Michigan State Fairs.

U.P. Pride came through as folks from across the region banded together to Build UP our Deeply Rooted community to keep the U.P. State Fair tradition alive. Not only did everyone want to see the annual week-long fair continue, they were determined to expand use of the grounds to assure the financial stability of the venue that hosts one of the largest events in the region.

During the most recent media event, we were pleased to report that, thanks to the guidance of the U.P. State Fair Authority members and generosity of our sponsors, the U.P. State Fair has been financially profitable each of the last 10 years and has invested almost $1 million in capital projects on the fairgrounds.

For a decade, we’ve gathered supporters together many times for media events when we’ve had exciting news to share. Again, we had good news to deliver.

We once again acknowledged and thanked the John and Melissa Besse Foundation and State of Michigan for their gifts of $1.5 million so we could start construction on one of the most exciting tourism and business attraction collaborations our region has seen in decades, a 22,000 square-foot multi-use facility on the U.P. State Fairgrounds.

Knowing that there was still about 25 percent of the final construction costs to raise, we looked at the crowd funding opportunities available to us through a program known as Patronicity, a funding tool communities can use to help create vibrant public spaces with the potential to bring new vitality to the community and serve as a catalyst for additional economic activity.

We were informed the afternoon before the media event that our application was approved for funding through the Public Spaces Community Places program and that all donations from that day through April 30 would be matched dollar for dollar, up to $50,000, to complete the U.P. Welcome Center, Webster Marble Inventing the Outdoors Museum and the offices of the Delta County Commerce Center. With the help of a generous community, just like that, $50,000 in private donations will become $100,000 thanks to this program offered through MEDC.

The response to the announcement was immediately positive and within 10 days, more than $27,500 was pledged by local residents and businesses, more than half of what is needed to win a matching grant with funds made possible by MEDC’s Public Spaces Community Places program.

U.P. Pride comes through again as our friends and neighbors show their continued appreciation for the area by connecting with this important program to financially support the construction of this new community asset. Please check out the interactive program online at www.patronicity.com/dc and consider helping to Build UP our Deeply Rooted community.

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Vickie Micheau is executive director of the Delta County Chamber of Commerce