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Column: Remember local businesses

ESCANABA — With so much going on, let’s remember our local businesses and organizations.

We just passed one of our major summer milestones, the 4th of July weekend. It was nice to see all of the activity take place in our communities. Events may have been a little smaller than in the past or in some cases may have had to cancel, but it was good to see things that are always positive. The traffic over the bridge for the 4th of July weekend was down 15%, but was still 61,800 plus vehicles. Based on my view, we had many visitors to the U.P. and Delta County. It will be interesting to see if we can hold the COVID-19 infection rate in check. If we did our best to take the steps to stay safe, my hope is we will not see increases in the next couple of weeks.

Many of us have had pent-up energy and are ready to move on to more public activities. Our local businesses are reopening under strict guidelines to protect their employees and their customers. It is costly for our local businesses to provide services under the guidelines that limit capacity and stretch their business model to the limit. Make sure that you take every opportunity to shop at our local businesses. They have always been there for us to show support for the many community fundraisers that make our area great. It is our turn to make sure we help them during their most difficult time.

Many big events like the U.P. State Fair have recently made the decision to postpone until next year. The impact of our area’s larger summer events being postponed on our economy will be felt for a long time. Take the opportunity to participate in community fundraisers when you can, our many organizations need this shot in the arm financially more than ever. We can make a very positive impact on many organizations the rest of the summer just by having fun at their event.

The MEDC announced a new set of grants for small businesses and non-profits. The money will help many small businesses across the state. The U.P. will have a grant pool of $4.5 million. The funds will be distributed through the leadership of INVESTUP and local economic development organizations. Applications for this grant will be available on July 15th. The process will be an online portal through the MEDC. The application can be accessed at michiganbusiness.org/restart and will run through Aug. 5. Applicants can apply for up to $20,000 in grant funds.

The Delta County EDA will be available to help business with questions throughout the process. Contact me at eda@deltami.org or by phone at 906-786-2192 if you need assistance. Stay safe.

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Ed Legault is director of the Delta County Economic Development Alliance

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