HANCOCK - State Reps. Gary McDowell (D-Rudyard) and Rich Brown (D-Bessemer) today hosted the fourth and fifth hearings in Hancock and Ironwood of a blue-ribbon task force designed to focus on the specific needs of the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan. The hearing in Hancock focused on economic development. The hearing in Ironwood focused on mining and forestry.
"Our panel wants to find the best ways to ensure that the economy in both the Upper Peninsula and northern Michigan continue to grow," McDowell said. "We have different issues and challenges from the rest of Michigan. Rural communities are struggling and it's our job to listen to the citizens of the area and work together to find creative solutions to their concerns."
The task force will conduct a series of hearings across the region to gather testimony from residents, local officials, business and labor leaders, advocacy groups and others.
Topics for the hearings will include: economic development (tourism, forestry and other fields); health care and prescription drugs; education; water protection; and trash imports from Canada and other states.
Expert presenters in Hancock included Andrew Bek, executive director of Upper Great Lakes Educational Technologies, and Mike Lahti, a Houghton businessman. Presenters in Ironwood included Richard Bolen, Gogebic County forester; Cynthia Pryor, Concerned Citizens of Big Bay, and a representative from the mining industry.
"By listening to the people in northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, this task force will help move our region forward and in turn we can move Michigan forward," Brown said.