ESCANABA — I found myself watching a local weather forecast Tuesday evening when I noticed that the temperature in Iron Mountain reached the lower 60s and the forecast for Wednesday morning was 8 degrees! Mother Nature has been known to be an unpredictable person in the U.P. While we have experienced a very uncommon mild winter with very little snow, my heart goes out to the many businesses and organizations that have had their plans drastically change based on the lack of snow.

While we can’t change the past, I hope we can now move forward with some great weather to get an early spring and a kickoff of some of our spring and summer outdoor activities. But Mother Nature will decide when we are done with winter weather.

I always look forward to this time of year. Spring training baseball has started and all of the teams and their loyal fans are optimistic about the new season. What needs to happen for them to move up from a good young team to a great team. Anything seems possible at this point. That same optimistic feeling is happening in our communities and Delta County. We have many opportunities to create housing, expand businesses and replace aging infrastructure. The next couple of years we will see many transformational projects in Delta County. Many of these projects have been visions for many years. Because they have taken longer than some feel they should have to implement, there is sometimes a voice of skepticism with some of our citizens. Others may feel a project is not going to benefit them directly, so it can’t possible be good for the community. We need to expand our vision and focus to what needs to happen in our area to grow our business competitiveness, attract and keep young local talent and make Delta County a place of choice to visit, live and work. The population trend in the U.P. Delta County is alarming. The story is there are fewer of us that live here by an alarming rate and our average age continues to climb to record heights. We need to make sure our decisions support the future of our area and not just next year. I do feel we have the leadership in many areas to create and make a vision of change and progress that will be attractive business, citizens and tourists. Take a look at how you can be involved as an agent of change. Become part of a board or commission to share your knowledge and expertise. If you don’t have time for that type of commitment, look to find something that you feel is positive and make comment about what that project or program will do for the community. It easy to make a negative comment, but try to find the positives and focus on those.

We are starting to see many activities in the area. Our high school athletes are now moving to their playoff opportunities and end of season events, what an exciting time for our young people and the leadership experiences they will have during the next few weeks. Best of luck to all. The robotics teams will soon be in Escanaba for a competition on March 7 through the 9. The competition will feature 40 teams from both the Lower and Upper Peninsula, as well as local students. This event is a great STEM experience for all involved. It is amazing to see their creations at work. “Business after Hours” events through the Delta County Chamber have kicked off and will continue throughout the rest of the year. The BAH events are a great way to network with other business leaders as well as a way to show off your business to the community. Many organizational fund raising events have already kicked off this year and there will be many to come throughout the remainder of 2024. Look to support some of them as you can. It could be as a participant or a volunteer to help out with the event. Your time is important for the betterment of the community.

If you have read any of my past articles, cultivating young area leadership is at the top of the chart. The 2024 Delta Force Leadership Program kicked off their activities on Thursday February 29 at the Commerce Center. There are 21 new participants that will be have the opportunity to really do a deep dive into everything Delta County, they will be recognized at the Chamber Annual Dinner in October for their graduation from the program.

Best wishes and continued success to participants and the many facilitators that make the program a tremendous success.

I hope to see you at some event soon.

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Ed Legault is executive director of the Delta County Economic Development Alliance