ESCANABA — I stopped by my Mom’s house about a week ago and she was looking out the window to her backyard. She then said “I can’t believe how much snow is in the yard! I told her that it wouldn’t be too much longer and that it would melt quickly. I am usually not that good at predicting the weather, but we immediately had this warming trending and we have lost most of our snow cover. I am glad the weather did cooperate with the many winter events that were postponed last year, but had a great turn out this year.

Soon we will start seeing some of the construction for both infrastructure and new projects in our area. The new businesses in our area continue to grow and the momentum is strong with the many events that will start taking place. We are seeing many developers, entrepreneurs and tourists seeing Delta County as a top priority in their plans. We will have 25 Victory Cruise Line stops in Escanaba during the summer, giving more people the opportunity to see & appreciate all Delta County has to offer.

On March 9 we will spring ahead to daylight savings time and will really start to see more day time activities. More people out walking, gardening, taking part in some of the outdoor spring sports and taking advantage of the many blessings we have in our area.

A shameless plug, The 32nd Chamber Golf outing will take place on June 5. The event usually is the kickoff to the many area charity fundraising events. Many of our organizations do so much to support our area and their fundraising events are a very fun way to show our support for all they do. The beginning of March also brings the First In Michigan District Robotics event in Escanaba. The event will be from Friday March 7th – 9th. As of now there are already 40 teams signed up to compete in the event. It is really amazing to see how much robotics has grown over the years. Almost all of our U.P. schools have teams, but there 531 teams in the FIM District that will be competing to move on in the competitions throughout the state.

I wanted to highlight DSISD Superintendent Doug Leisenring’s announcement that he will be retiring from his position on June 30. Doug’s commitment to education is very evident based on his 34 years working in our local education system. The last 10 years Doug has been leading the DSISD. I was always taught in the businesses I have worked for in my career, that if you take on a new challenge your goal should be to always leave it better than when you started. Doug has certainly done that throughout his career and will be leaving the DSISD in great shape for whoever will be taking over the job. Mr. Leisenring will not be ending his career just yet, as he will be starting a new chapter. The Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators received a consolation grant from the state to create a student information database called MiGreatDataLake in conjunction with Amazon Web Services. Leisenring was tapped to oversee the project as the project manager. His ability to steer this important project will be a huge win for all of the districts in Michigan going forward. Best of luck and continued success in your new position Doug! Thank you for your many contributions to the area over the years.

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