Progress edition 2015

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Industry

HealtH care agrIculture

educatIon

busIness

MASON COUNTY 2015

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2 | Ludington daiLy newS/PRogReSS edition | tHuRSday, aPRiL 30, 2015www.ludingtondailynews.com

Things are looking up in Mason County.

Homes are selling. New businesses are hanging out shingles. The jobless rate is declining. More people are working.

Call it progress.After years of troubling

economic news that led to job losses, foreclosures and difficult times for many, there is a rebound under way.

Mary Reilly, Mason County building administrator, said permits are up for new con-struction, and the projects are larger than they were five or six years ago when adding a deck or remodeling was the main feature of permits.

“It’s pretty spread out,” she said of the uptick in building permits, adding there is consistent interest in lakefront, riverfront and

inland lake property.Hamlin Township, she

said, had the most residen-tial activity in the coun-ty in 2014. Ludington also showed gains of 4.36 per-cent in residential.

Bob Budreau, who manag-es the Ludington Greenridge Realty office, says home pricing has come back and sales are going strong.

“I think this is going to be an amazing year. We have been waiting for this one for 7 years,” he said.

Greenridge doubled sales in the first three months of this year compared to the first three months of 2014 — and 2014 was a record year, Budreau said.

“Seven years ago, the only thing selling were foreclo-sures, and the average sale was $75,000,” Budreau said. Today the average sale is

$120,000. “That’s huge. It just shows you the foreclo-sures are getting through,” he said.

More houses are selling in the upper $100,000 and into the $200,000 range, he said.

The demand has come from local residents mov-ing up who stayed in hous-es that became too small for growing families longer than they might have due to the uncertainty of the past sev-en years.

“People were concerned about their jobs, the future,” Budreau said.

But the jobs picture is overall, getting better. Ma-son County’s unemploy-ment rate for March 2015 was 7.1 percent. Of the 14,550 people in the coun-ty labor force, 13,500 were working in March. Michi-gan’s unemployment also is

improving and stood at 5.7 percent.

Local industries such as Whitehall Industries, Flora-Craft, OxyChem and Great Lakes Castings report great years and growth.

Consumers Energy is in the midst of an $800 mil-lion upgrade of its Luding-ton Pumped Storage Plant bringing in an additional 125 workers at peak times of the construction.

Gourmet Mushroom is the new operator of the Diversi-fied Natural Products Plant in Scottville, with hopes of adding upwards of 80 jobs.

With the economy and jobs picture looking better people making their move.

New home construction, Budreau said, still is lagging, partially because so many contractors left the business during the downturn. Those

who remain, he said, cur-rently are often booked for a year or more when it comes to new homes, so a call ear-ly in your planning process might be a good idea.

While commercial sales still lag a bit due to worries about risk, there are new retail operations opening around the county.

Downtown Ludington has seen a lot of changes with businesses moving, new ones opening and renewed vitality. Ludington’s mari-time icon, Lake Michigan Carferry’s SS Badger, will be-gin a new sailing season with a historic change. The last coal-fired, steam-powered ship in the U.S., will sail with-out discharging its ash into Lake Michigan.

Downtown Scottville is seeing growth in its retail offerings, too, with several

openings creating a sense of staying power.

Agriculture is an impor-tant component of Mason County and has been for a long time. Techniques and what is raised continue to develop.

Education at all levels is changing, too. West Shore Community College estab-lished in 1967, continues to seek ways to serve its com-munities and is in the pro-cess of selecting is fourth president. One way it serves that is through partner-ships with local schools, which also are continuing to change to meet needs and realities of today.

Mason County has many elements, and in the fol-lowing pages we look at the progress being made in many aspects of Mason County.

Looking at progress in Mason County

InsIde our 2015 Progress edItIonIndustry ............... page 5 Business ............... page 8 Agriculture............... page 17schools ............... page 26Worship ............... pages 34-35

a special publication of the ludington

daily news

3

Stan Bennett(231) 690-1190

www.greenridge.com

Are you standing still buying or selling a home?

Let Us Help You Move Forward.... Call a GREENRIDGE agent today!

Bob Budreau Manager

(231) 690-8127

Dick Diesing(231) 843-5109

Diana Kovalcik(231) 690-5545

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Susan Mark(231) 843-5117

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5492 US-10 • Ludington, MI 49431

tHuRSday, aPRiL 30, 2015 | Ludington daiLy newS/PRogReSS edition | 3www.ludingtondailynews.com

4

Whitehall Industries has been serving our customers for over 40 years, and we are proud of our well trained workforce. We currently employ over 450 workers in Mason County. Whitehall is a leading manufacturer of Precision Aluminum Extruded components for the Automotive and other markets. Whitehall is on the leading edge for development of new products and manufacturing technologies to keep us competitive and eco-friendly. This dedication to service and quality is Whitehall Industries “Signature of Price”.

5175 W Sixth St. Ludington, MI 49431 • 231-845-5101 • www.whitehallindustries.com


Renovations are taking place throughout Sandcastles Chil-dren’s Museum, including the top floor, but that one will be off limits until the May 14 open house reveal.

The main floors of the museum re-opened March 27. Regular spring hours are 9:30 to 1 p.m. Fridays and 9:30 a.m.

to 3 p.m. Saturdays. During the summer — May 26 through Aug. 30 — hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Sat-urday.

There’s been considerable activity nearby at the Ludington Area Center for the Arts, 107 S. Harrison St., with some renova-tions to the performance hall and more to come.

Along with the Ludington Library, which had a children’s wing added in recent years, there is almost always something to do in downtown Ludington.

new year, new look

at sandcastles Children’s Museum

Mary Todd paints trim on the newly reno-vated main floor perfor-mance stage area of Sandcastles Children’s Museum., 129 E. Lud-ington Ave.

Jeff Kiessel | Ludington daiLy newS

BY KeViN BRACisZesKidaiLy newS StaFF wRiteR

Many local industries suf-fered through the last sev-eral years with smaller staffs and lower sales numbers.

That has changed for many of those business-es and here’s a look at how some of them are doing to-day:

floRACRAft“2014 was a record year

for the company — perhaps the most successful year for the company — and 2015 is off to an even better start,” said FloraCraft President and CEO Jim Scatena. “We’re right on plan for the first quarter.

“We think the economy is recovered, but it’s frag-ile and gradual,” he said. “It’s not a robust recovery but it’s in the right direction. Customer confidence in the economy is good and they’re spending more money.

“Our retail customers are starting to open new stores — something they haven’t done in a few years.”

Scatena said one of Flo-raCraft’s best customers is Hobby Lobby, which has 500 stores across the country. He said Hobby Lobby is poised to open 75 new stores this year.

“We’re in the consumer product industry and a lot of our growth is being driven by social media,” he said, add-ing that creative people share ideas on social media and that inspires other creative people.

FloraCraft’s business has increased so much recently that the company added a third shift during the week of April 13.

“It’s an indication of how our business continues to grow,” Scatena said.

He also said the compa-ny now employs about 200 people, which is up 30 over the number working there in 2014.

The company operates a full-scale production crew during the first shift, Scat-ena said, and then small-er crews on the second and third shifts who are mostly involved with packaging.

Scatena said the company is also looking to expand its facilities in Ludington.

GReAt lAKes CAstiNGs“Business is strong,” Great

Lakes Castings President and CEO Rob Killips said about his company. “We keep our fingers crossed that it keeps going in that di-rection.

“I’d say (business) is up about 10 percent from a year

ago,” Killips added. “Our gas meter customers are up sub-stantially and the auto in-dustry is going strong.”

The company makes gas meters companies attach to lines and then read to bill customers. Killips said busi-ness is up because a compa-ny is in the middle of a meter replacement program.

“There’s a company with a large gas meter replace-ment program somewhere in the country that’s affect-ing this,” he said.

The company also makes parts for automotive brak-ing system and Killips said that market is also strong for Great Lakes Castings.

And good sales for the company means employ-ment for local residents. Killips estimated there are about 165 people work-ing at the Ludington found-ry, which he said is slightly higher than in recent years.

“We just feel fortunate to be in the position we are,” he said. “There are found-ries going out of business and we’re fortunate not to

be among them.”

WhitehAll iNdustRies“We’re still growing and

we expect that to contin-ue this year and next year,” Whitehall Industries Presi-dent and COO David Coo-per said about his company. “Both plants here are full of machines — physical-ly packed with production equipment.”

The plants are also full of employees, with 339 at the company’s Sixth Street plant and another 153 working at the Madison Street plant.

During the past five years, the company has also add-ed other plants in Paducah, Kentucky, and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The Ken-tucky plant now employs 120 people and another 114 work at the plant in Mexi-co for a total of 726 people working for Whitehall.

That number is more than twice as high as the 348 em-ployees Whitehall had in 2009 and there are also 82 more people working for Whitehall Industries now than a year ago.

Cooper said the company does a lot of business mak-ing structural frames for Tesla vehicles as well as con-tinue to make sunroof parts and robotic welding.

“We’re also getting more into luggage racks,” he said.

Cooper has said Whitehall Industries had sales of $32 million in 2009 and $93 mil-lion in 2014 and he’s fore-casting sales of $117 million in 2015.

“This is still a great team of people and employees and we still treat our cus-tomers well,” he said.

oxYChem“2014 was the most prof-

itable year this site has ever had — a record year for us,” Doug Dunklow, manager of the OxyChem plant in Lud-ington, said about the busi-ness. “We expect 2015 to be another good year.”

OxyChem produces calci-um chloride products at its Ludington plant and those products can be used to melt snow and ice.

The last two winters have been cold and snowy in America’s east and Mid-west and those winters have helped OxyChem, Dunklow said.

“Beyond this year, every-thing depends on the weath-er,” he said.

The plant employs 125 workers and Dunklow said that number has been steady since 2004.

“We don’t see that number changing,” he said.

“This is a very solid busi-ness that will be here a long, long time,” Dunklow added. “It’s a very profitable busi-ness.”

[email protected]

5


Industry benefits as economy recovers

on Industry

MAson County

Jeff Kiessel | daiLy newS FiLe PHotoJim Scatena, FloraCraft president and CEO, talks to FloraCraft employees in the plant.

‘we’re still growing and we expect that to continue this year and next year.’

david Cooperwhitehall industries president

and chief operating officer


More people working in Mason CountyBY KeViN BRACisZesKidaiLy newS StaFF wRiteR

Almost as many Mason County residents were work-ing in 2014 as were em-ployed seven years earli-er — a sign the local area is joining the rest of the coun-try in recovering from the Great Recession that started in 2008.

Statistics from the Michi-gan Department of Tech-nology, Management and Budget (DTMB) show there was an average of 13,710 county residents working each month in 2014. That is only 182 fewer than the average number of work-ing residents in 2007 — but it’s 1,005 more workers than during the low point of 2009, when the coun-ty’s unemployment rate averaged 13 percent each month.

This year’s numbers are continuing the trend start-ed in 2014 and Mason Coun-ty’s unemployment rate has stayed below 8 percent for 11 straight months up to February, which is the last month for which figures were available.

“A lower unemployment rate is good news for every-one,” said Kathy Maclean, president and CEO of the Ludington & Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce. “More people working

means more money feeding our local economy. The de-mand for workers continues, especially skilled workers. Many of our local employ-ers are struggling to fill job openings. Companies can-not expand and new busi-nesses cannot open without the right people to fill these openings.

“As our economy contin-ues to expand, our challenge is to develop a skilled work-force and attract lost talent back and attract new talent to Mason County,” Maclean

said.She said the improving

economy has helped several new small businesses open this spring or prepare for openings soon.

“The entrepreneurial spirit is strong in Mason County,” Maclean said. “We anticipate some slightly larger new business announcements as well. We are definitely on a positive track with new in-vestment in our community. 2015 is shaping up to be a pretty exciting year and one we will look back on as a new

benchmark.”The state figures also

show Mason County’s 2014 average monthly unemploy-ment rate was 7.3 percent, which is even better than the 7.6 percent rate for 2007.

Jobless rates for recent years show 7.6 percent in 2007, 8.4 percent in 2008, 13 percent in 2009, 12.4 per-cent in 2010, 10.6 percent in 2011, 9.3 percent in 2012, 9.2 percent in 2013 and 7.3 percent in 2014.

Also during the recession, the number of people in the

local workforce dropped from 15,040 in 2007 to a low of 14,406 in 2011 — poten-tially a loss of 634 county residents who moved out of the area to look for work.

That number has grown again in recent years to 14,501 in 2012, 14,605 in 2013 and 14,795 in 2014.

The average number of working residents also grew to 13,152 in 2012, 13,260 in 2013 and 13,710 in 2014.

GRoWth AlliANCeMason County is currently

without an economic devel-opment director.

The county had dropped its Mason County Economic Development Corporation years ago and formed the Mason County Growth Al-liance to take its place and promote economic develop-

ment locally.The MCGA has been with-

out a director for years but is in the process of seeking to hire someone as a new eco-nomic development coordi-nator this year.

One of the results of sev-eral months of study by the MCGA was it decided to strengthen its ties with the Ludington & Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber has provid-ed administrative support for the growth alliance dur-ing the past and it is now in charge of the hunt for a new economic development co-ordinator.

Kathy Maclean, chamber president and CEO, said the chamber was asked this year to put together a job descrip-tion and contract for a new coordinator for the growth alliance and to take charge of the search process.

“They’ll work alongside the chamber, Kathy DeVr-ies, talent and entrepre-neur development coor-dinator (for the chamber), and the new director of the West Shore Community Col-lege Business Opportunities Center,” Maclean said about the individual to be hired as the new growth alliance co-ordinator.

[email protected] x346

PAtti KleVoRN | daiLy newS FiLe PHotoThe Ludington and Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce and West Shore Community College have been working together to offer Ludington Talent Connect events to introduce local business professionals with people from the area who are home during popular vacation times and might consider a return if a job is available in the future.

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Kathy macleanPresident and Ceo of the

Ludington & Scottville Chamber of Commerce.

BY steVe BeGNoCheManaging editoR

While the Lake Winds En-ergy Park has captured the bulk of local energy develop-ment headlines over recent years, an even more signifi-cant efficiency and upgrade project continues at Luding-ton Pumped Storage Plant, co-owned by Consumers En-ergy and DTE Energy.

The plant, built between 1969-73, is operated by Consumers Energy and sits on 1,000 acres in Pere Mar-quette and Summit town-ships along the Lake Michi-gan shoreline. The plant’s capacity is rated 1,872 mega-watts — enough to power a community of 1.4 million people, according to Con-sumers Energy. The $800 million upgrade was project-ed to increase the generat-ing capacity of the plant to approximately 2,172 mega-watts — enough to power a community of 1.65 million people.

Toshiba International Cor-poration was hired to make and install equipment to in-crease the efficiency, output and reliability of the plant’s six 312-MW hydroelectric units. Work began in 2013 and is scheduled through 2019. According to William Schoenlein, manager of hy-dro and renewable gener-ation for Consumers En-ergy and plant manager at Pumped Storage, the work is on budget and on schedule.

Unit 2 has been completed and work is in progress on Unit 4.

The utilities already are seeing a better-than-expect-ed improvement in effi-ciency from the refurbished units, Schoenlein said.

The work was expected to increase the output of each unit by 50 megawatts. The reality after the first new unit was installed and in op-eration, a 73 megawatt in-crease in performance was

realized.That 23 megawatt bonus

is expected to hold true for all six turbines. If it does, it would mean the refurbish-ing will increase the output of the Ludington Pumped Storage by 438 megawatts —138 megawatts over and above the anticipated 300 megawatt improvement.

“It’s really good news,” Schoenlein said.

The 56-turbine Lake Winds Energy Park built nearby by Consumers Energy is rated at 100 megawatts. Essential-ly, the unexpected improve-ment in performance when in full operation will pro-duce more power than Lake Winds.

Yet another way of look-ing at it, Schoenlein said, is a megawatt is about equal to the amount of power a Meijer store would use, so the improvement alone would power about 138 such stores.

The Ludington Pumped Storage Plant remains “the crown jewel for both Con-sumers Energy and DTE En-ergy,” Dan Bishop, Consum-ers Energy director of media relations said. “This project fulfills a promise that both companies made to invest in

baseload generation for mil-lions of customers through-out Michigan.”

Consumers estimates it will take 10 to 11 months per unit to do the required work, noting the first unit took a bit longer.

“Things are going well,” Schoenlein said.

The plant employs about 40 people to operate it. Dur-ing peak construction sea-son of the refurbishing proj-ect as many as 125 people extra are on site. Many of those working on site have purchased homes and es-tablished residences here, Schoenlein said. Many oth-ers are staying in camp-grounds and motels.

“When I’m around town I see many people who are working on the project,” Schoenlein said. “I’ve heard nothing but positive about this project.”

The work has not neces-sarily been easy.

“Last winter was a bear because of the cold. It can hamper some of the work,” Schoenlein said.

Certain portions of the work require lifting of the covers off. Being right on the lakeshore, that made for cold conditions at times.

WhY RefuRBish?“The driver for doing the

upgrade is increased effi-ciency which results in low-er cost for the customer,” Schoenlein said.

He explained without the upgrade, for every 10 units of power put in to pump wa-ter into the 842-acre reser-voir, the utilities got 7 units of power back out. The up-grade will improve the out-put from 10 units of power in to 7.7 units back out.

The generation will be at lower cost,” Schoenlein said. “When Ludington is dispatched, it will be dis-patched at lower cost.”

The plant has long been compared to a giant bat-tery. When electric demand is low, water is pumped into the reservoir that can store up to 27 billion gallons. The water is released to create power when demand is high.

If demand spikes, Lud-ington Pumped Storage in a matter of three to four min-utes can open a unit to gen-erate power providing flex-ibility and the ability go match generation of power to demand for power.

“Ludington Pumped Stor-age continues to be a very

strong attribute to support-ing the grid and smoothing out the vagaries of renew-ables,” Dennis Marvin, Con-sumers Energy community engagement manager, said.

Consumers, for instance owns Lake Winds Energy Park in Mason County and Cross Winds in Michigan’s Thumb region. Ludington Pumped Storage can help ad-just output for when wind is low and the wind farms are not producing at capac-ity. The higher percentage of renewables, the greater variability, Marvin said. Lud-ington Pumped Storage can serve very well in that role to smooth out power chang-es due to the variability of wind. Ludington Pumped Storage also can serve as an economical battery to store wind energy created when there isn’t the demand for power, he said.

“It’s a very strong asset,” Marvin said.

“This project fulfills a promise that both compa-nies made to invest in base load generation for millions of customers throughout Michigan,” Bishop said.

Even with Consumers En-ergy efficiency plans in place the tempered consumer de-

mand for electricity, the rebounding economy has brought with it demands for more energy from industrial customers.

“Ludington helps pro-vide power for Michigan’s growth,” Bishop said.

lAKe WiNds eNeRGY PARK“I think we are seeing it op-

erate consistently,” Marvin said of Lake Winds Energy Park. “As with anything new you find out things as they operate. Now we know what to expect with the turbines.”

He said the power gener-ation capacity has proven better than expected. That’s true, he said, even with some of the turbines operating in a mitigating mode to re-duce the noise they make af-ter Mason County Planning Commission determined some turbines violated the noise limits approved in the special land use for the park. Consumers maintains the turbines don’t violate the noise limits in the special land use and fought the rul-ing in court. Former Mason County Circuit Court Judge Richard Cooper ruled in fa-vor of the county. Consum-ers Energy has appealed that decision and the challenge remains in the hands of the Michigan Court of Appeals.

Most issues have been re-solved, though not all to the liking of some neighbors.

The other large remaining issue is the avian study re-quired within two years of operation. The data collec-tion is completed, Marvin said, but the writing of the study is not yet complete.

Combined, the Lake Winds Energy Park and the retrofit of Ludington Pumped Stor-age represent an investment about $1 billion over 10 years by Consumers Energy and DTE Energy in Mason County.

That’s billion with a “b.”

[email protected]

7


Consumers making billion-dollar investment

BY PAtti KleVoRNnewS editoR

New businesses have been popping up throughout the community, with some call-ing for new construction while others are repurpos-ing older buildings.

BiGGBY CoffeeOn U.S. 10, Biggby Coffee

plans to open just east of Ludington this summer at 4551 W. U.S. 10, the former home of Starbucks.

Biggby, the East Lansing-based gourmet coffee retail-er, has been named the fast-est-growing coffee chain in America for its sales.

Aldi, WAGs to WhisKeRsPlans for a new ALDI gro-

cery store at the southwest corner of U.S. 10 and Meyers Road are proceeding and the company is hoping to open

the store in November 2015.The Pere Marquette Town-

ship store will be 17,000 square feet, accompanied by a 7,350-square-foot pet supply store named Wags to Whiskers.

The site is right across the street from the local Walmart.

KiNG fuNeRAl home ANd CRemAtioN CeNteR

Renovations are complete at the Ludington location of King Funeral Home and Cre-mation Services and they are ready to serve the com-munity.

“Everything is remod-eled,” Bradley King Sr. said about the former Knights of Columbus Hall on Jebavy Drive. “It has taken a lot more time than we thought, but it was worth the wait. I think the community will be impressed.”

Construction began on the building shortly after the father and son team of Bradley King Sr. and Brad-ley King Jr. purchased it about a year ago. Adams Construction and General Contracting and other sub-contractors completely re-modeled the building.

Over the remodel pro-cess, Brad Sr. said, carpeting has been taken out, the dry-wall has been redone, new LED lighting has been put in and new furniture and office equipment has been put in the building.

“It is a complete funeral home facility,” Brad Sr. said.

shoe seNsAtioNShoe Sensation opened

earlier this month at 5582 W. U.S. 10 in the Ludington Center Plaza at the Jebavy Drive intersection

Terry Grams, store man-ager, said the national chain store has an affinity for small communities like Ludington.

“We are a small town business that likes to bring in big-time shoes at afford-able prices,” she said.

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MAson County

new business, new construction across county

Jeff Kiessel | daiLy newS FiLe PHotoSafety Decals has a new building on First Street, and already the business is packed with new machinery for its growing list of jobs.

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A busy year for downtown LudingtonJust within the last year

or so, many changes have occurred in the Ludington business community. New stores and restaurants have opened, existing business-es have moved to new lo-cations, and even more are slated to open their doors in the next few months.

“It’s a pretty exciting time for downtown,” said Heather Tykoski, downtown devel-opment coordinator. “The community garden will be spruced up, we’re talking about going greener with LED lights, the James Street Plaza is undergoing a revital-ization and a group is work-ing on cleaning up South James Street.”

She said since it’s the main route to the carferry and gets a lot of traffic, the DDA sees James Street as a grow-ing extension of Ludington Avenue with new and reno-

vated businesses.The old Hankwitz Heating

and Cooling is now Eclec-tic Market, a kind of incuba-tor for small businesses just getting started that might not be able to rent a large space right away. Tykoski said two spaces have already been rented, with more to come.

More downtown apart-ments are also on the agen-da.

Here’s what’s opened in the last year:

On James Street, Luding-ton Pub and Love Wines have come to town. The Red Door Gallery has relocated from Ludington Avenue to James Street with its opening set for May 1. St. Simon’s Bar-gain Center has moved to the former Jackpine Busi-ness space on U.S. 10, and the building on the corner of James and Loomis is un-

dergoing renovation. It will be rented to two businesses downstairs with apartments upstairs.

Ludington Avenue has The Curly Haired Girl in what used to be Cole’s Antiques, and Gene’s Ventures is in the same location. It will be Gene Jorissen’s office and also the embarkation point for his tours.

AM Galleries moved into the the space next door, which used to be the Red Door.

The Cedar Chest consign-ment shop has relocated next to Evergreen and the former consignment shop spot at the corner of James and Ludington will be the new home of Spindrift Cycle Sports this summer. Bicycle sales and accessories, rent-als, repairs, gifts and a cof-fee bar are planned.

On the south side of the

avenue, Mattress Max offers furniture and bedding.

Glik’s clothing store has taken over the former Clos-son’s Jewelry.

exploring downtown ludingtonBY diANe NemitZdaiLy newS StaFF wRiteR

It’s just a short walk to ex-cellent restaurants, shop-ping, art galleries, and rest-ful parks in downtown Ludington. Old favorites and new ventures beckon.

Restaurants offer every-thing from full meals to snacks, breakfast, lunch or dinner. Grab an ice cream cone and stroll down to Stearns Park to watch the sunset.

See doWNtoWN ludiNGtoN, PAGe 10Jeff Kiessel | daiLy newS

Many changes have taken place in downtown Ludington.

fRom PAGe 8

The store will offer every-thing from Nike and Skech-ers to Dr. Martens and Tim-berland. The store will also offer socks, backpacks and purses. “We will have shoes for every occasion. We offer work boots, cow-boy boots, hunting boots, dress shoes to sandals,” Grams said.

The staff is made up of local residents, with the number of employees to grow to 15 people over time.

sAfetY deCAlsSafetydecals.com was

built at 5236 W. First St. The business grew from the Tykoski family’s three generations of sign-mak-ers, beginning with Marion then David and now Nick

Tykoski, Safetydecals.com president and CEO.

The company has had 400 percent growth in the past five years and sup-plies companies through-out the United States and

abroad. Constantly grow-ing with technology, Safe-tyDecals.com in now one of the largest decal manu-factures in the world, pro-ducing millions of decals a year.

neW BusIness: Locals employed

Jeff Kiessel | daiLy newSShoe Sensation is new to Ludington, located in the plaza at the corner of U.S. 10 and Jebavy Drive.

10

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fRom PAGe 9

The Payment family’s tril-ogy of pubs including old fa-vorite Sportsman, The Mit-ten and Barley and Rye, are right on the avenue. The Mitten, featuring Michigan-made beer and wine, has a large following of those who are fans of craft brews and is featured in national maga-zines.

A WAlK doWN JAmes stReet“Downtown” is not con-

fined to Ludington Avenue, but James Street and portions of Rath Avenue offer attrac-tive places to shop and dine.

James Street is fast becom-ing “restaurant row” with the addition of the Ludington Pub, in its first year of opera-tion, and Love Wines, a tast-ing room featuring locally made wine. James Street Sta-tion and Blu Moon Bistro have rooftop dining in the sum-mer, and Jamesport, Luding-

ton’s only brew pub, opens its back deck.

It took almost two years for Paulette DeYoung and her staff to revamp the old Crow’s Nest and transform it into the Ludington Pub.

The original back bar and tin ceiling were restored and the low-key, family-friend-ly offers a selection of “pub grub.” Manager Dave White said, “Everyone serves burg-ers, but some of ours are

unique.” The signature Carni-val Club sandwich has three kinds of meat and is large enough to serve two.

A few doors down, Love Wines serves tastings of wine created on the premis-

es, which is then available by the bottle to take home. Jana Brockwell uses locally grown fruits, like strawberries, to make the wine. Wine-relat-ed gift items are unique and may be purchased individu-ally or in gift baskets.

You CAN fiNd ANYthiNG You WANt

Well, almost anything, right downtown. Home fur-nishings, boutique clothing, outdoor sports equipment, craft supplies, and grocer-ies are just a few blocks from each other.

Need to redecorate your home or just add a few new pieces? Right on the Ave-nue, Lindsay’s and Mattress Max sell brand-new furni-ture and decorative pieces. A few blocks down, The Curly Haired Girl just opened her shop of the same name with refurbished pieces and funky art. For additional art by local artists, visit the new location of AM Galleries.

On James Street, Déjà Vu offers gently used furniture at low prices, and a short walk merits a stop at Red Door’s new shop or Sunset Bay Antiques.

Nautical Yarn and Book-mark — owned by the same couple but in different store-fronts just a block apart — are two of the busiest places in town, with classes, books, coffee and lessons, and new to come at Bookmark are sec-ond-floor apartments.

Looking for a new outfit? Plenty of casual attire, Lud-ington style, everywhere, and if you need something spe-cial, Cedar Chest consign-ment shop has a complete line of women’s and men’s clothing, including fancy dresses and prom gowns.

Storefronts don’t stay empty very long downtown. Keep looking at downtown Ludington. There’s always something going on, old fa-vorites and new favorites to come.

doWntoWn LudIngton: Eat and shop locally for nearly anything you want

Shoppers are a key to a healthy downtown market.

A31


BY PAtti KleVoRNnewS editoR

Now eighteen months into the merger with Spectrum Health, the Ludington hos-pital — formerly Memorial Medical Center — is getting a clearer picture of what the affiliation truly brings to the community.

Spectrum Health has been named a top 15 health sys-tem in the U.S. for the fourth time in a report by Truven Health Analytics. The Grand Rapids-based Spectrum is the only one in Michigan to make the list.

“It just reinforces our deci-sion,” Spectrum Health Lud-ington Hospital President and CEO Mark Vipperman said of affiliating with Spec-trum. “That, to me, is a big deal.”

Being a part of Spectrum aids the Ludington hospital — and thus the community — in myriad ways, he said.

NeW PhYsiCiANsFor one, recruiting. Already, the Ludington

hospital has several addi-tional personnel in advanced practice — nurse practitio-ner or physician assistant, one in the Hart satellite of-fice and two in Ludington physician practices.

An announcement is ex-pected later this spring, in June, that a new pediatrician and a new internist are com-ing to town.

“We’ve gotten great sup-port from Spectrum,” Vip-perman said.

Having additional caregiv-ers allows for increased ac-cess to care, an important goal in the health care field.

Spectrum Ludington also is communicating with a neurologist to work part-time in Ludington, with a plan to start this summer.

sPeCiAlistsThe hospital now offers a

cardiology clinic every Fri-

day and soon some of its physician offices will start using telehealth or e-care visits, saving people from having to drive for some spe-cialist care. Likely to start will be cardiology and oncol-ogy specialists available via computer in a local physi-cian’s office.

That’s part of the connec-tion to Spectrum Health, which is also helping the Ludington hospital explore how to use technology to connect local emergency de-partment physicians with fellow physicians out of town who can offer exper-tise in patient care.

“This is going to be so cool,” Vipperman said. “And we’re going to make sure it’s a good, quality experience for the patient.”

It’s all part of improving access to care, and that’s al-ready happening, Vipper-man said.

“We have seen our market share increase, up 4.5 per-cent the past two years,” she said.

BiRthiNG CeNteRThe hospital now has a

new 10-year master facil-ity plan, which calls for de-veloping an integrated care campus, with multiple phy-sicians together sharing one intake space at the hospital.

It also calls for a modern birthing center.

“I would endorse that this

is our first priority,” Vip-perman said. “It’s part of the reason we went out and looked for a system (like Spectrum).”

The local hospital staff now has the expertise of Spectrum Health “to help us pursue opportunities.”

listeNiNG to PAtieNtsSoon to come is a new Pa-

tient Family Advisory Coun-cil, a model of engaging pa-tients and families with hospital leaders, as “our own community consultants,” Vipperman said. The council will report to the board qual-ity committee to offer ideas to improve care.

“This will be a great re-source going forward,” he said. “This is another signifi-cant aspect of joining Spec-trum Health.”

Adding Helen Johnson, MSN, chief nursing officer, as vice president of patient care services is part of that movement to find even more meaningful ways to be re-sponsive to patient needs.

Added ACCessThe federal government

now qualifies Spectrum Lud-ington for additional fund-ing — giving it Rural Health Clinic Status — due to the large number of patients who are on Medicaid.

Medicaid and Medicare pay only a percentage of the actual cost of care, so physi-

cian offices have to balance how many patients on those government insurance pro-grams it can afford to take and stay in business.

Now, local care providers — two in Ludington and the hospital’s offices in Hart and Pentwater — will be able to see more patients who don’t have private insurance.

“It’s good news for our overall community,” Vipper-man said.

Access to care was an im-portant issue in the previ-ous needs assessment, said David Klinger, Spectrum Ludington vice president of

communications and organi-zational development.

“Mark has done a tremen-dous amount of work on this,” Klinger said.

Another means toward the goal of adding “contact hours” for doctor and pa-tient, physician offices — once independent — are aligning their practices with the hospital in a new way, with doctors employed by a medical group and their staffs employed by the hos-pital.

The idea is to have the docs practice “at the high-est level of their license,”

“As health care is becom-ing more regulated,” Vip-perman said, physicians are opting out of spending time on their own billing/insur-ance issues — allowing the groups associated with the hospital to take that on. That means, hopefully, more time with patients.

Spectrum is awaiting re-sults of a Community Needs Assessment Survey, expect-ed to be shared with the hos-pital board in June.

“We’ve made good head-way from the last survey,” Klinger said, noting im-proved access to care and strong participation in pre-vention programs like the hospital’s Win with Wellness.

“We have plans to expand that and we’re working on sustainable funding sources for that.”

Spectrum Health Ludington Hospital brought Kathy Grierson, PA, on board to run its Win with Wellness Fit Club for local students.

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Local agencies working togetherBY eRiCA KARmeisoolBRidging tHe gaP, SPeCiaL PRojeCtS wRiteR

Agencies in Mason Coun-ty are making monumen-tal strides to significantly impact three main areas of focus: income, education and health. The common thread to the most signifi-cant changes is thinking ho-listically of people and work-ing collaboratively. From the state to local levels, this co-ordinated approach is im-pacting the way our commu-nity organizations look, act and service others.

United Way of Mason County is at the forefront of many local changes.

“Our process has been very deliberate,” said Lynne Russell, executive director of UWMC. “Over the next sev-eral months, we are going to evaluate how we’re fund-ing and determining if we should continue funding in-dividual programs or if we can have greater impact with the community’s money by funding collaborative proj-ects.”

She said area organi-zations have historically worked independently in ‘si-los’ rather than working to-gether to solve the commu-nity’s most critical issues. “We really need to move away from this approach and be willing to think and do things differently,” she said.

Russell noted that the most critical issues identi-fied in the community were specific to those living in poverty. In 2012, she and the UWMC board began reading Bridges to Sustainable Com-munities, a book by Philip E. DeVol., that explores an ap-proach to ending poverty by the entire community work-ing together. The system-wide approach includes the people in poverty, business-es and organizations.

“The Pennies from Heaven

Foundation had the same vision,” said Russell. “It brought funding and the respected leadership from within the private business sector. UWMC brought the nonprofit sector, and togeth-er, created great synergy.”

UWMC, the Pennies from Heaven Foundation and 11 area businesses collaborated to form the Lakeshore Em-ployer Resource Network (LERN), which launched Oct. 1, 2013. LERN makes a “suc-cess coach” available to the employees of participat-ing companies. The success coach helps employees solve personal obstacles that may be affecting their ability to perform at work.

UWMC is currently playing a lead role in organizing ef-forts to create a centralized food pantry for Mason Coun-ty by bringing together non-profit organizations and the faith-based community. The Pennies from Heaven Foun-dation has purchased the former Lakeshore Lumber building at 920 E. Tinkham Ave., which will be used in-part as the food pantry hub. Plans are still in progress, and the vision includes the location hosting a variety of other service providers.

UWMC, in partnership

with the Pennies from Heav-en Foundation, has helped launch and supports many collaborative-based pro-grams, including LERN, which now has 12 participat-ing businesses and a newly formed health clinic, Mason County Family Link, which placed Department of Hu-man Services (DHS) workers and coordinators in schools and will soon place mental health clinicians, and Oak-tree Academy, which pro-motes whole family success through child care and edu-cation services.

“It’s important for people to see everything as inter-connected,” said Russell. “I believe that the forming of LERN, and showing how 11 (now 12) businesses were able to come together, was the catalyst for others saying, ‘If these employers can do this, then so can we.’”

Mason/Oceana Depart-ment of Health and Human Services

As of April 10, the Michi-gan Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was formed by executive or-der through the merger of the Michigan Department of Human Services (DHS) and the Michigan Department of

Community Health. The idea — shared by Gov.

Rick Snyder in announcing the merger — is similar to the work already happening in

Mason County, spearheaded by the United Way.

“Changes will occur over time,” said DHHS Manager of Communications and Pub-lic Information Officer Bob Wheaton, “with the philoso-phy of providing more co-ordinated services.” He said the merger will be phased throughout this fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

Wheaton said there are no plans to reduce the number of workers in the county field offices because of the merg-er. Groups are still in discus-sion about how the merger will develop at the local level.

“The goal is to get people services they need with con-sistency,” said Janet Vyse-Staszak, acting director of Mason/Oceana County DHHS. “The long term goal is to enhance our ability to get people employed, address absenteeism in schools and

get the community educat-ed.”

Through a collaborative effort between DHS, Unit-ed Way of Mason County, Mason County schools and other agencies, two DHS em-ployees were placed in the county’s three school dis-tricts through a program called, Mason County Fam-ily Link (MCFL). MCFL is part-ly modeled after the state’s Pathways to Potential pro-gram.

“We’re working on getting mental health workers in the schools,” said Vyse-Staszak of the expanding MCFL and collaboration with West Michigan Community Men-tal Health. “It’s a preventa-tive approach.” She said that people will be able to access services not just at a DHHS office, but other off-site lo-cations as well.

See AGeNCies, PAGe 36

Jeff Kiessel | daiLy newSA new homeowner is handed the keys to her Habitat for Humanity of Mason County home.

A34

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fRom PAGe 33

“In discussions about the central food pantry, there may be a DHHS worker there,” said Vyse-Staszak. “We’re always looking for opportunities to collaborate with the community.”

“There is a belief that there are a lot of government pro-grams, but not a reduction of needs,” said Wheaton. “Putting a Band-Aid on an issue doesn’t get at the big-ger problem of why a fami-ly is in a financially difficult position in the first place.” He said the merger is about working together to provide better, coordinated servic-es and helping to removing barriers to success that may prevent clients from being self-sufficient.

“The governor saw the success (the Pathways to Po-tential) model was having in schools,” said Wheaton. “We’ve reorganized the way we provide government ser-vices from a ‘people’ point of view, to help them deal with challenges that may prevent them from being as success-ful as they want to be.”

West Michigan Commu-nity Mental Health

Similar to the DHHS merg-er centered around the no-tion of coordinated care, the approach of West Michigan Community Mental Health is to look at the whole person and all of their needs. “Es-pecially for people who use multiple state services, the impetus is to improve,” said Lisa Hotovy, executive direc-tor.

“The goal of WMCMH is to be more efficient in delivery of services to improve over-all community health,” Ho-tovy said.

WMCMH uses evidence-based practices, which rely on measured outcomes of a service.

“We have to show that ev-ery service that we are pro-viding improves the out-come (for the consumer),” she said. “The data impera-

tive is much more important than ever before.”

She said the evidence-based practice implementa-tion requires the staff and community to think differ-ently, and some services may change based on the data.

“Just because (a service) may feel effective doesn’t mean that it was,” she said.

“It’s a culture shift,” said Betsy Reed, WMCMH quality assurance and public rela-tions coordinator. “We also demonstrate cost per out-come.”

She said that the previous model for most of health care was fee for service — fees were charged based on the number of services or number of visits, regardless of improved health. “The movement now is to reim-burse and incentivize out-comes as people get better.”

“Health care economics is the imperative: to get people what they need at the lowest possible cost,” Hotovy said. “That’s not just an economic benefit, but a quality of life benefit.”

WMCMH is just now seeing effects of last year’s instate-ment of the state’s Medic-aid expansion plan, Healthy Michigan. Hotovy said gen-eral funding was reduced

because it was expected that WMCMH would be receiv-ing more funds from the Healthy Michigan Plan. “The state took away a dispropor-tionate amount of general funds,” she said.

General funding is used to cover expenses related to people who do not have insurance, those who have private insurance and oth-er costs related to manag-ing care. “People’s insurance benefits have historically not been a factor, but they are now,” said Hotovy.

“Private insurance does not cover the full array of services that CMH offers,” said Reed. “We do many more services for those with more complex needs.” Be-cause of the lack of gener-al funding, services could changed for those with pri-vate insurance.

COVEOne of the agencies with

the most significant changes in the last year is Communi-ties Overcoming Violent En-counters (COVE).

“Last year was really about looking forward. It was a year of hope,” said Carrie Kosla, COVE fundraising/community outreach coor-dinator. “We knew when we moved to the new facility it

would only help us do our job better.”

“Over the last decade, the community has a better idea of our issues,” Kosla said. “Over the past five years,

we’ve become a better com-munity member, largely due to the volunteers being so active.”

The grand opening of the new facility was Feb. 17; shelter guests and others were fully transitioned to the building in March. “The new building allows the advocates to have offices where the clients are shel-tered,” said Kosla. “It’s cre-ated a feeling of family,” she said.

Kosla said that at first, the staff was not sure if shel-ter guests would feel com-fortable in the community room, a space at the front of the building and open to offices and the general pub-lic. “We’re using the entire building, and clients are not feeling isolated in the shel-ter,” she said. “Everything flows — every space is acces-sible.”

“There are so many differ-ent forms of domestic vio-

lence and sexual assault,” said Kossla. “Now we can handle all of those situa-tions.” The ability to ser-vice victims at one facility is largely attributed to the es-tablishment of a Sexual As-sault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Unit and separate housing units to accommodate men and the elderly.

“It took the building to get some people to come and look, and really see what we do,” said Kosla. “Once they see, they become invested.” She said COVE is still work-ing to raise money for the final balance of the project, $75,000 to match an anony-mous donor’s contribution of the same amount.

An endowment fund was started with a gift of $25,000. Kosla encouraged those in-terested in being a part of COVE’s sustainability to con-sider contacting the Commu-nity Foundation for Mason County and contribute.

AgenCIes: Working on three areas of focus — income, education and health

Jeff Kiessel | daiLy newS FiLe PHotoStudents clean ovens at HELP Ministry before the appliances were made available to people in need.


BY BRiAN mulheRiNdaiLy newS StaFF wRiteR

Ludington State Park’s Lake Michigan Beach House has painstakingly been re-stored to its former glo-ry over the last few years and late this year it will get some items that help visi-tors understand the big, beautiful lake it sits upon.

A Great Lakes Fishery Trust Fund grant will help explain the story of inva-sive species in Lake Michi-gan.

Ludington State Park In-terpreter Alan Wernette said the beach house will have two new aquariums and a ballast water table in-stalled in the north end of the second floor this Sep-tember.

“We want to tell the sto-ry of the Great Lakes, the ecology of the Great Lakes and the fisheries,” Wernette said. “We want to empha-size some of the past and current years.”

Wernette said the dis-plays will explain how inva-sives made their way to the Great Lakes through ballast water and other avenues and will also explain the importance of keeping spe-cies like Asian carp from the Great Lakes.

A centerpiece of the in-terpretive area will be a large table with a hands-on freighter. Lights will show how invasive species are picked up with ballast wa-ter in Eurasian waters and then released in the Great Lakes as the freighter navi-gates to Lake Michigan.

The phase is being de-signed by Split Rock Stu-dios, which won the bid for the displays.

Wernette said initially they considered a water table for the freighter to navigate, but given that the beach house is open to the public during the warmer months and given the his-toric wood floors, lights

were judged to be more vis-itor-proof.

The aquariums will house sea lampreys and Chinook salmon fry and fingerlings that are part of the state’s “Salmon in the Classroom” program. Wernette said they’re hopeful that local classrooms would donate a few of the fish they raise each year to the display. So while the children could re-lease most of their salmon in the spring as they usu-ally do, a fraction from one class each year might be kept over the summer at the beach house for visitors to see. The fish would then be released in the fall.

For the lamprey display, lampreys collected in traps on area rivers would be placed in the aquarium so visitors could have a close-up look at the invasive fish blamed for extirpating na-tive lake trout on Lake Michigan.

mAP tABleNot part of the GLFT

grant, but also expected to be installed this fall is a re-lief map of the entire park with push-button lights to mark areas of interest and

some of the trails. Wernette said the map

table will sit in the center of the top floor so visitors coming up the stairs will be greeted by it. The 3-foot by 7-foot table will allow visi-tors to see the contours of the park’s dunes with the map.

WhAt else?The south end of the

beach house will be used as a picnic area, but there are plans to do four interpre-tive tabletop overlays for the picnic tables. Wernette said one will display infor-mation on invasive species, another will talk about the scavenger species of the shoreline, another will dis-play the entire Great Lakes watershed and a fourth will display the fish species of the Great Lakes.

A countertop along the west-facing windows in the building will eventually have information on Great Lakes water levels, Wer-nette said.

He said there are also plans for a display on the sport fishing for salmon on the lake. Wernette said he likes to point out to the

boats and explain how they get closer and closer to shore until they disappear in September when the surf

fishermen line the beach and the salmon eventually run up the Big Sable River.

Finally, an outline of the entire Great Lakes water-shed will be added to the paved area outside the low-er west doors of the build-ing. Wernette said it will

be just the basic shape of the lakes and the states so that people might be able to use sidewalk chalk to la-bel landmarks around the Great Lakes themselves.


renovated beach house will get interpretive displays ‘we want to tell the story of the great Lakes, the ecology of the great Lakes and the fisheries. we want to emphasize some of the past and current years.’

Alan WernetteLudington State Park interpreter

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A11-B1

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new crop of businesses in scottvilleBY melissA KeefeRdaiLy newS StaFF wRiteR

SCOTTVILLE — Downtown Scottville is coming back to life thanks to a new crop of busi-nesses.

Scottville Main Street Manag-er Heather DeVries said Scot-tville has had a flood of retail stores open downtown, includ-ing Bliss Bridals, Cole’s An-tiques Villa, Holden’s Custom Furniture, Speedy’s Treasures, as well as J’s Spunky Treasures & Consignment opening in the next month.

She added, “We are also ex-cited to see growth in servic-es with Miller’s Marketplace opening in May and the addi-tions of Peace of Mind Coun-seling, G & M Burgers and Bot-tle and Can in the past year as well.”

The city has a lot to celebrate when it comes to growth, al-though there are still some

empty storefronts available.“We are very appreciative

of the growth we have seen in the past year and the busi-ness owners investing in Scott-ville,” DeVries said. “We would still love to see a grocery store downtown, but with Miller’s Marketplace opening this spring we are excited to have fresh local produce downtown. It is a step in the right direc-tion.”

Scottville’s Main Street pro-gram is supporting businesses in town with a new mini-grant program.

“To better support the busi-nesses, the Main Street Board has reinstated the downtown mini-grant this year,” DeVr-ies said. “The mini-grant is a biannual program that allows business and building owners to apply for a 50/50 matching grant that gives $2,500 each round. The projects support-ed by this grant are beautifica-

tion, maintenance and signage, areas often not funded in state grant programs.”

DeVries said Scottville is also working to reduce blight to in-crease property values.

A look at new business:

Bottle ANd CANDon and Liz Pasco opened

Bottle and Can, a destination shop for beer, craft beer and a variety of liquor.

Don said he feels like there fi-nally is some staying power for new businesses in town rather than opening and then closing after just a few months.

“Cole’s, Speedy’s and Bliss Bridals all started around the same time as I did here,” he said. “It is promising that we are still here. Like we are not in it alone.”

He said all of the shops bring people into other businesses in town.

“People usually go into more

than one business,” he said.He said the unique thing

about Scottville is that you get a shopping experience when you come in town.

Don said it’s good to see new businesses in town.

Bliss BRidAlsTristan Pickard filled a need

in Scottville when she opened Bliss Bridals — bringing some-thing for everyone in wedding and formal gowns.

Located in the same space that offered a used dress store previously, Pickard offers ev-erything from classic styles to camouflage dresses for the bride and bridal party as well as attire for other special occa-sions.

The inventory from the old store has been sorted through and Pickard said everything she has now is brand new.

See sCottVille, PAGe 15Bottle and Can received grant money for a new sign through Scottville Main Street mini grants.

A12-B2


PROGRESS

ScottvilleUpcoming events

Downtown Scottville, 1924

Spring Fling - April 25th, 11 am - 2 pm Celebrating Success - June 2nd, 4 pm - 7 pm Scottville Summerfest - July 10th-12th Scottville Havest Festival - Sept. 17th-19th Small Business Saturday - November 28th Scottville Christmas Party - December 2015

Time is Priceless . . .

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It is not enough to just say relationships are important; we must prove it by investing time in them. Our love should

not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action.” Relationships take time and effort, and the best way to spell love is “T-I-M-E.”

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PROGRESS

Scottville

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www.holdenshomeemporium.com • 119 S. Main St., ScottvilleRoy and Linda Holden, Proprietors

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fRom PAGe 11

house,” Ginger said. She said the former owner

of the building was offering it for a good price and since she and Matthew both have 25 years experience in the restaurant industry, they de-cided to try their own busi-ness.

“We came up with the burger place because locals need a good place to stop and have a burger for a good price,” Ginger said.

In addition to the tasty burgers at the restaurant, this summer, Ginger said, they will add a shake and malt shop in the back por-tion of the building.

“We gutted it and remod-eled it,” Ginger said. “We have the equipment for shakes, malts and an ice cream freezer. It will add places for about 30 more people to sit in the back.”

Ginger said they went into business, taking a chance even though Scottville is a small town.

“We were a little nervous at first, whether Scottville would support the busi-ness,” Ginger said. “For the most part, the city has been wonderful.”

sPeedY’s tReAsuResJames “Speedy” Hawke,

owner of Speedy’s Trea-sures, has been collecting items since he was a child and sells them as antiques, collectibles and supplies for Pinterest projects.

Hawke, a friend of Pick-ard’s who let her know about the business opportunity next door to him, also grew up in Scottville and went to Mason County Central schools. Both Hawke and Pickard said it was impor-tant to them to keep Scott-ville in business.

Cole’s ANtiques VillASally and Jerry Cole moved

their antiques store from downtown Ludington to Scottville during the sum-

mer, making Cole’s Antiques Villa another destination store in town.

The two have had success in town and have welcomed visitors from all over.

The couple has taken in-terest in Scottville and at-tends city commission meet-ings and helps out with the Scottville Main Street pro-grams, including the popu-lar Elf on the Shelf promo-tion.

West shoRe BANK ChANGesScottville’s West Shore

Bank branch has added jobs and renovated the down-town building to accommo-date new employees.

At a summer event in Scottville last year, the bank announced the ren-ovations and expansion, which added 15 new jobs.

The bank had no more space to expand at the Lud-ington headquarters, and that meant an opportuni-ty to expand in Scottville. The main expansion was to create a customer ser-vice department that com-bines loan and deposit op-erations so that a customer

who calls or sends an on-line inquiry can have all their questions answered in one place, without being referred to different offices around the bank.

Ray Biggs, president and CEO, said the move was good for both Ludington and Scottville.

GouRmet mushRoomsDiversified Natural Prod-

ucts is now Gourmet Mush-rooms.

While the former bean plant turned musheroom plant in Scottville has been quiet for the last few years, its new owner is hoping it can make a big noise in the mushroom industry in the near future.

Company President and CEO David Law has been in the mushroom business since 1977 and he’s hoping his expertise can combine with that of General Man-ager Dr. Gary Mills to give his company a leg-up in the high-end mushroom world.

Law has brought the mai-take to Scottville, where it will be grown along with six

other varieties — including morels.

If all goes as planned, the plant will have 80 full-time employees in the near fu-ture, making it the second-largest business in Scott-ville after the Mason County Central school district.

One planned change is to convert the former DNP facility to Gourmet Mush-rooms growing techniques. While the techniques aren’t that different, the vessels used for growing the mush-rooms differ slightly. DNP

grew mushrooms in plastic bags, while Gourmet Mush-rooms grows them in plastic bottles.

milleR’s mARKetPlACeMiller’s Marketplace will

be at 202 N. Main St. next to Cole’s Antiques Villa, for-merly home to a car wash in downtown Scottville. The business will feature a farm-ers market each Saturday.

“I plan on trying a lot of different things, to see what people like,” said owner Jen-nifer Miller.

She said since Scottville no longer has a farmers mar-ket on Saturday mornings, she really hopes it becomes a destination for people to buy their fresh fruits and vegetables.

J’s sPuNKY tReAsuRe ANd CoNsiGNmeNt

Jeremy Macher has always hoped to go into business for himself and now he has the opportunity to do so in

Scottville.“Scottville is a beautiful

town and I think it’s impor-tant that people do business here,” Macher said.

Macher said he will accept almost any items at his shop on a 50/50 sale basis.

“I get 50 percent of the sale price and the seller gets 50 percent of the sale price.”

CottAGe WoRKsDann and Julie Van-

Dyke opened their new re-tail space, Cottage Works, just west of town in Amber Township.

The business, on U.S. 10 between Stiles and Amber roads, offers cottage fur-nishings and decor, T-shirts/sweatshirts, beach towels, lamps, lounge covers, vases, purses, ornaments, signs, note cards, and just about anything “cottagey” one can imagine.

The business started in 2009, with Dann’s dock in-stallation/removal at the heart of the business. He will continue that work plus now have a location for dock, boat lift, swim rafts, seawall and kayak rack sales, and much more.

“The storefront will in-crease the visibility and awareness of our products,” Julie said.

The store’s location is ide-al for many reasons, Julie said, including its proximity to local lakes.

sCottvILLe: New business owners passionate about community, customers‘Scottville is a beautiful town and i think it’s important that people do business here.’

Jeremy macher

Jeff Kiessel | daiLy newS

Cars line the streets of Scottville. Traffic is picking up in town thanks to several new businesses.

A16-B6


ss Badger back on the water, but with major changesBY steVe BeGNoCheManaging editoR

When the SS Badger begins sailing this season, it will do so with a major change: It will no longer discharge ash from its coal-fired boilers into Lake Michigan.

This past winter, Lake Michigan Carferry began the process of modifying the 62-year-old vessel with a conveyor system, designed and built specifically for the historic vessel by Hapman Conveyors out of Kalama-zoo. The system will move ash 180 feet from the boiler room to the car deck where it will be stored in four con-tainment bins.

Plans call for the ash to be removed by truck and trans-ported for sale. LMC didn’t want to say much about the status of the process until later this spring when the Badger is ready to sail. This will be the 23rd season for Lake Michigan Carferry.

“We’re on track and look-ing forward to service for years to come,” Terri Brown, director of marketing, said recently.

Under terms of U.S. De-partment of Justice ap-proved consent decree between LMC and the Envi-ronmental Protection Agen-cy, LMC had to stop ash dis-charge from the Badger in order to sail this season.

Previously, ash from the boilers of the four steam-powered engines was mixed with Lake Michigan water and discharged in a slurry into the lake, according to Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

If all goes as planned, this chapter in the historic ves-sel’s long history will be over and a new chapter opened May 15, its first scheduled day of sailing.

This season’s work follows an even more elaborate pro-cess over the winter of 2013-14 that updated combustion controls so the Badger could burn coal more efficiently

and produce less ash. That project was deemed a suc-cess and the Badger reduced its coal consumption by 15 percent in 2014 over usage of 2013. It also produced 18 percent less ash in 2014 than in 2013. Over the 2013 and 2014 season, the Bad-ger’s ash was reduced by 40 percent from 2012.

Between the two projects, LMC estimates it has spent nearly $2.5 million in meet-ing the EPA’s directive.

Senior Engineer Chuck Cart has been philosophi-cal about the change, call-ing ash retention the latest evolution among many that the Badger has gone through since it was first launched in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, in 1953.

The Badger, Cart told the Daily News, was built to the standards of its day — stan-dards that once allowed trash and sewage of all lake vessels to be jettisoned over-board. As those standards

have changed, the Badger has been modified to meet the new standards. The lat-est change required the coal ash discharge to end. As the rules changed, the ship has been modified to meet the standards of the day. “We weren’t doing anything wrong,” Cart said, “just meeting the standards.”

Passengers likely won’t even notice the latest change since it’s all taking place be-low deck.

The Badger will be sport-ing other changes passen-gers will see this year.

steAmeRs louNGeIn the coming weeks, the

finishing touches will be put on a new lounge in the aft end of the 410-foot Badger.

The Steamers Lounge gets its theme from the three car-ferries — the SS Badger (P.M. 43), the City of Midland (P.M. 41) and the Spartan (P.M. 42).

Only the Badger still sails

Lake Michigan as a carferry, though now passenger ser-vice is its prime business, helped by its ability to carry over-dimensional loads. The Badger no longer carries tra-ditional rail cars that were the more than century-old Ludington carferry indus-try’s backbone for decades. Ludington was once home to the world’s largest car-ferry fleet. The Badger’s trail racks were paved over when Charles Conrad formed LMC to operate the SS Badger af-ter buying the vessels out of bankruptcy court follow-ing the demise of Michigan-Wisconsin Transportation nearly 25 years ago. Passen-ger cars, tour buses, motor-cycles and passenger service are its lifeblood now.

The City of Midland was cut down and turned into a barge, the Pere Marquette 41. It still sails out of Luding-ton as part of the articulated tug-barge unit powered by the tug Undaunted through Pere Marquette Shipping op-erated out of the same offic-es as LMC.

The Spartan remains at the LMC dock. For years it has been scavenged for parts to keep the Badger running.

The new lounge on the

Badger will have items from each of the three steamships and give passengers an idea and better appreciation of all three steamers, according to Brown.

The City of Midland’s lounge furniture will find new life in the new lounge on the Badger. Everything in the lounge is trimmed in brass, Brown said, as was every-thing on the City of Midland.

“It just helps our passen-gers realize what travel was back in those days,” Brown said.

And because travel is dif-ferent today, there will be a photo backdrop so passen-gers can get their photos taken in front of the back-drop and send them out on social media, Brown said.

LMC might be operating a historic vessel, but the com-pany has embraced social media and technology using “Sail Mail” emails, having a popular Facebook page and more.

“Our drone returns this year, for more aerial views, close to harbor,” Brown said.

tRAffiCSince LMC began operat-

ing in 1992, Brown said it has carried well over 2.5 mil-lion passengers.

“We continue to see in-crease in group travel, more use of car groups going to car shows in Michigan and Wisconsin,” Brown said.

In general, there’s a lot more cross-state travel to events in respective states.

Another growing segment is international group tours.

“We had multiple interna-tional group tours last year,” Brown said.

“As the company matures, we’re customizing the expe-rience to match the changing demographics,” she said.

Despite what she said was $2.5 million in investments on the Badger in the past two years, Brown said LMC for a third year is offering dis-counted fare pricing from what it was previous to that.

“It brings a lot of value to the experience,” she said.

The company has noted an increase of passengers from southeastern Michigan and the Thumb region of Michi-gan, Brown noted.

Over-dimensional loads, aka oversized loads, will continue to play an impor-tant role for LMC, just as the Badger plays for trans-porting the oversized loads between Michigan and Wis-consin without them hav-ing to travel around the lake, through busy metro areas.

Doing so helps LMC “bring economic vitality to both states,” Brown said.

LMC employs close to 200 people at peak season when Ludington and Manitowoc employees are combined.

“We’re still an economic factor in both communities,” Brown said.

sCheduleThe 2015 SS Badger sail-

ing season will sport a new departure time for morning sailings out of Ludington, 8:45 a.m.

Ludington night departure is 8:30 p.m.

Manitowoc, Wisconsin de-parture times are 2 p.m. Cen-tral Time and 1 a.m. CT, the same as last year.

LMC has also announced its list of shoreline cruis-es for the 2015 sailing sea-sons, including a new Mich-igan-Michigan State-themed cruise over the Labor Day weekend.

the schedule is:First Day of Sailing - May 15Manitowoc shoreline

Cruise - May 30luDington caribbean

Shoreline Cruise - June 6“Doubles” (two daily round

trips begin) - June 124th oF July Shoreline Cruise

- July 4Manitowoc shoreline

Cruise - Sept. 5luDington shoreline

Cruise - Sept. 6last Day of Sailing - Oct. 11

The SS Badger passes the Ludington lighthouse to make its way across Lake Michigan.

‘we’re on track and looking forward to service for years to come.’

terri Browndirector of marketing

BY BRiAN mulheRiNdaiLy newS StaFF wRiteR

Mason County is steeped in agricultural tradition.

The number of farms that can trace their roots back 50 or 100 years in the county is impressive.

But it also has its share of newer agricultural oper-ations, including six hops farms.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Dis-trict Conservationist Seth Earl said hops are so preva-lent here that the Mason-Lake Conservation District is mulling a “hops and crops” tour in the fall.

While hops are just the lat-est in a long line of crops to be tried in this region, an-other committee hopes to capitalize on another of the area’s sought-after products — its young people.

Earl said a committee is currently considering how an agricultural educa-tion program aimed at high school or college age stu-dents might fare here.

What will the next niche crop be?

Earl said he’s not sure, but Mason County is uniquely suited for the fresh market and farm market offerings because of the influx of tour-ism each year. He added that Jomaghra Winery and other local wineries continue to do

well because of the area’s at-tractiveness to tourism.

The area is uniquely suit-ed to always be on the list of places where the “next big thing” will get a look because of its climate being moderat-ed by Lake Michigan.

“Weather patterns and cli-mate dictate what crops get planted,” Earl said. “We’re blessed with the lake warm-ing and lake cooling effect.”

So there are new ideas on the horizon, but for the bulk of the county’s 18,000 acres of crop land, the questions center on the prices of fuel, fertilizer, corn and beans.

“We’re in an interesting time in agriculture,” Earl

said. “We’re not far removed from very high corn prices, followed by very low corn prices.”

He said generally corn prices don’t inch back so much as they bounce back, but that generally comes from someone’s bad luck.

“To get back quickly, you usually need a natural di-saster in the corn belt,” Earl said.

Earl said because of the early onset of winter last year and the summer crops being late thanks to an ex-ceptionally cold winter of 2013-14, he doesn’t predict that the overall acreage de-voted to corn and/or beans

will change drastically this year.

Wheat acres, however, may be down because farm-ers couldn’t get it planted before the snow fell or be-cause it sprouted during a warmup and was frozen off.

Corn isn’t the only com-modity that bottomed out recently, either.

“Dairy prices are low af-ter a record high, I think last September,” Earl said.

But farmers are used to

that ebb and flow and stay in business here because they’re good at managing the market’s currents and how they affect the local farms.

“We have some exception-ally good managers here and some even better people in this county,” Earl said. “We have a lot of old farms in this county and they’ve with-stood the test of time.”

Earl noted that farming is not like traditional business.

“Farmers buy everything at retail and sell everything at wholesale,” Earl said. “It’s the opposite of typical busi-ness.”

The pluses this year are that fuel prices are low — low enough that a moderate farm will save tens of thou-sands of dollars if prices re-main in this range this year. Fertilizer prices remained stable after predictions of a price increase, as well.

teChNoloGYEarl said technology plays

more and more of a role each year and new techniques are helping farmers see better yields with smaller cash out-lay. However, he said, the U.S. has the safest food system in the world and its citizens pay the smallest percent of their take home pay on food of any developed country. The aver-age American spends about 17 percent of his or her check on food, while that number is as high as 50-60 percent in other parts of the world.

The use of technology in the U.S. is a big part of that and people can get a look at the latest in technology on the MLCD’s summer tour each September.

Earl said the use of drones in agriculture is a big interna-tional trend and he’s heard of some interest locally for us-ing them to plan crop plant-ings.

A17-B7

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Charter fishing — not what it was, but alive and wellBY BRiAN mulheRiNdaiLy newS StaFF wRiteR

Charter fishing is alive and well in Ludington.

However, it’s not the busi-ness it once was. While the 2008 recession will be re-membered for a variety of reasons, one of its lasting ef-fects was to take a lot of char-ter captains off the water.

“Charter fishing is an op-tional recreational activity,” longtime Ludington Area Charterboat Association President Jim Fenner said. “Starting in the 2008 reces-sion we were hit pretty hard because of the nature of it.”

When the recession hit, people cut back on their fun funds and charter trips cer-tainly fell into that category.

Current LACA President Shane Ruboyianes said the recession combined with some changes in tax laws took away the trips booked by sales reps who were try-ing to impress their clients, in particular. The pharmaceuti-cal industry was a big player in the charter boat business locally, Ruboyianes said, and many of its trips went away and never came back.

That said, there are still around 50 member captains in the local association and they’re still showing visi-tors world-class fishing. As Ruboyianes pointed out, there aren’t many places in the world you can go and catch steelhead, Chinook salmon and lake trout and have the chance to fight mul-tiple fish in a single trip. The stocks of many of these spe-cies aren’t doing well in their native saltwater habitats, so Great Lakes fishing is a good place for people who love them to try their luck.

A ChANGiNG of the GuARdFenner said when he got

started there was quite a bit of camaraderie among the charter captains and the fish-ermen as a whole. Part of it was the residential nature of the docks, part of it was that

all of the captains were in close quarters at two or three marinas and part of it was that they spent all day fishing and talking to each other on the radio.

“Ludington had a terrific reputation as being kind of a sharing place for years,” Fenner said of the fishing radio traffic. “That kind of started to fade out when cell-phones became prominent, and that carries over to the shore.”

Fenner said it used to be if someone gave another an-gler some help over the radio, they may stop by their dock to thank them after the trip. In the last decade, though, the radio traffic has died off in favor of cellphone conver-sations. Where once an angler could hear coordinates, color patterns and depths to fish, now you’re lucky to hear a “radio check” call.

Fenner said another un-fortunate fact is that many of the charter captains who caught salmon fever in the 1970s have either retired or died.

“There was a big gang of us that got into the business 20-25 years ago and unfor-tunately I’ve watched three or four of my closest char-ter fishing friends who have passed on,” Fenner said. “Some new guys have come along but not as many and not many as dedicated as we were.”

Fenner said Ludington still has fine captains to offer and spoke highly of Ruboyianes, Adam Knudsen, Mike Darke and a handful of other young captains.

ChANGiNG BusiNessStill, from the peak of al-

most 80 captains and a long-time membership level of about 60 captains, today’s list of 45-50 captains paints a picture of a changing busi-ness.

Fenner said the double-whammy of a tough economy followed by a couple years of tough fishing has hurt things. He’s always been outspo-ken that the Department of Natural Resources allowing anglers to keep five salmon instead of three hurt the char-ter business because it set the bar higher for the customers.

“It would help us, psy-chologically, the charters,” Fenner said of going back to a three-fish limit. “Our custom-ers would be happier. If you send four people home with 10 fish and it’s two short of their limit that’s better than sending them back with 10 fish and it’s half their limit.”

Fenner said it’s also a tougher sell to get people to go steelhead and lake trout fishing than it is to go salmon fishing.

“I brought guys in — I can still see them in my mind’s eye — heading in with a lim-it of steelhead and they’d say

‘I know we got our limit but I wish we had some big salm-on.’ I heard that more than once.”

That said, the charter in-dustry survived the last time salmon numbers got low and there are signs that it should survive it again.

Fenner said luckily when

the BKD crisis happened in the 1990s, Lake Michigan set up with cold water a few miles offshore from Luding-ton, allowing charter captains to go after steelhead when salmon fishing was tough. He said last year that water came back after a couple-year absence and he believes this year will have cold water for nearshore steelhead fishing again.

That’s not to say last year was great. After a good start in May and June, things go tougher in July and August.

“The water in the lake never really warmed up good and every time the wind blew, it blew what warm water we had away and the fish went with it,” Fenner said.

Ruboyianes said he’s opti-mistic because while the biol-ogists may see the lake head-ing in the wrong direction, other important variables are moving back in the right di-

rection.“I think we’re going to

have a good year this year,” Ruboyianes said. “Gas pric-es are good, the economy is good. Even if fishing is slow like last year, it’s still a world-class fishery. It won’t be like three or four years ago when you had poor people who got back from their trips at 9:30 in the morning and had to eat their lunches at our picnic ta-ble, but it’s still good fishing.”

He said it was just incon-sistent last year and it may be that way again this year.

“One day we’d go get a doz-en, the next day we’d go get three,” Ruboyianes said.

He said whatever happens with the fishing, Ludington will always be a good fishery relative to other ports.

“We’re always going to have a great fishery because of our structure — we’re right between two big points,” Ruboyianes said.

A24-B14


schools pleased with performanceBY KeViN BRACisZesKidaiLy newS StaFF wRiteR

Mason County Eastern’s students were honored for their academic performanc-es in the past year and ACT scores for Mason County Central’s high school stu-dents have risen markedly during the past few years.

Many Ludington Area Schools students have also been honored for their aca-demic performances in re-cent years, prompting Su-perintendent Andrea Large to praise the community.

“We’re very thankful that this is a community that val-ues education,” Large said.

mAsoN CouNtY eAsteRNMason County Eastern Su-

perintendent Paul Shoup noted that MCE was recog-nized by Bridge Magazine

and the Mackinac Center for Public Policy the academic performance of its students when the percentage of stu-

dents receiving free or re-duced lunches is used as a factor.

Shoup said he is also

pleased student Travis Mc-Cormick received one of 32 scholarships offered by the Michigan High School Ath-

letic Association.“When we have students

succeed, it says a lot about the school district, too,” Shoup said.

He said the biggest chal-lenge facing school districts is to improve student perfor-mance.

“We challenge our stu-dents and we want them to be prepared for a global so-ciety,” Shoup said.

mAsoN CouNtY CeNtRAlMason County Central Su-

perintendent Jeff Mount is proud the average ACT score for MCC students has risen from 17.9 in 2008 to 19.3 in 2014.

Mount is also proud the district’s art programs are doing very well, including the art program, music pro-gram and forensics team.

Mount said many people

say MCC has a good athletic program and said they are now also saying the district has a good arts program.

ludiNGtoN AReA sChoolsLudington Area Schools

Superintendent Andrea Large said the biggest chal-lenge facing Michigan school districts is being forced to make budget decisions based on unknown factors.

Michigan law requires school districts must have their budgets completed by June 30 each year.

At that time, in many years, school officials won’t know what amount per pu-pil the state will approve in school funding and won’t know how many students it will have.

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Large said another chal-lenge school districts face is the state government’s changes to the assessment tests students must take each year. The state changed from the Michigan Educa-tional Assessment Program (MEAP) test to the M-STEP, which will also be replaced by a different test in two years.

“Changing the test is a challenge and the amount of time spent on that test-ing is time that could be more focused on instruc-tion of students,” Large said.

She said the M-STEP test is time consuming and challenging to students.

But Large said the posi-tives outweigh the nega-tives for her school district, including partnerships in the community.

eNRollmeNt deCliNiNGEnrollment at area school

districts has been dropping during the past 20 years and the total loss of stu-dents in the local area since 1996 is 2,489. There were 10,128 local public school students in fall 1996 and there were 7,639 counted in October 2014.

That is a significant drop because school districts

receive their funding on a per-student basis with each one worth about $7,252.

Shoup said enrollment at MCE has been good in re-cent years.

“I think things are going great,” he said. “It’s been a good year and our en-rollment has stayed very steady.”

Mount said his district’s enrollment has fallen by about 300 students since 2010.

“We had a high of almost 1,600 students in 2010 and now we’re down to about 1,300,” Mount said. “It’s tough financially and with staffing.

“We’ve rightsized the ship every year to continue to maintain the programs we have,” he said about ad-justing the district’s staff-ing to make up for changes in student population.

Mount said his school dis-trict is helped by the state’s Schools of Choice program that allows students to at-tend school districts that are not necessarily where the students homes are lo-cated. He said the district would have fewer than 1,300 students if there was no Schools of Choice pro-gram.

Large is concerned Lud-ington’s enrollment, which is about 69 students lower

than in fall 2013, will de-crease by even more stu-dents by fall. She has even received school board ap-proval to lay off up to five teachers for the 2015-16 school year.

“Right now, I think we should prepare for a worst-case scenario,” Large told her board recently.


sChooLs: Appreciate community support, deal with declining enrollment

Students at Mason County Central Middle School work on class proj-ects.

dAilY NeWs file Photo

BY steVe BeGNoCheManaging editoR

Victory Township — West Shore Community College, in transition as it interviews finalists for the position of president of the 45 year-old college, continues on its mis-sion of serving the commu-nity and helping students succeed.

“I believe we’re still in a very strong position, but there is the almost univer-sal-wide issues all commu-nity colleges are struggling with, enrollment and stu-dent success issues of reten-tion and graduation,” said Scott Ward, interim presi-dent and vice president ad-ministrative services.

“We’re very strong, but we can always do better. Our biggest asset is our staff. We also have such strong com-munity support and strong community partnerships,” Ward said.

The WSCC Board of Trust-ees intends to name a new president in May with hopes he or she will be on the job before the start of the fall se-mester. The successful can-didate will become only the fourth president of the col-lege.

“I think they have a great group of candidates and I’m excited to have someone on board making and further-ing the community connec-tions we have,” Ward said.

Finalist interviews took place the week of April 20 with the board deciding to negotiate with Dr. Kenneth Urban, interim president of Nicolet College in Rhineland-er, Wisconsin. A commit-tee will also visit the Nicolet campus before making a fi-nal decision.

seRViNG studeNtsHow WSCC serves stu-

dents — and in the commu-nity college students are anything but a homogenous

group — continues to evolve.“We are really such a jack

of all trades in providing ac-ademic experience, transfer courses. We’re in workforce development, economic de-velopment, and providing cultural outreach to the com-munity,” Ward said.

“I really love the mission of the community college. I’m glad we’re able to pro-vide all these services to the district.”

The college’s district geo-graphically includes Ma-son and Manistee counties and small areas of Lake and Oceana counties. Because of the merger of the Mason-Lake and Oceana intermedi-ate school districts several years ago into the West Shore Educational Service District, the college sees many tech prep students from Hart and Shelby schools that aren’t part of the WSCC district but are part of the ESD opening a potential avenue for new WSCC students.

That’s important. WSCC

went through a decade or so of student enrollment gains — gains during a na-tional and state economic recession. Now that the na-tional and state economy is improving, West Shore, like community colleges throughout Michigan and beyond, has seen its enroll-ment decline as more peo-ple return or enter the work-place and forego taking classes.

In the current winter se-mester, enrollment dipped to 1,269 students, the lowest level in 12 years.

Some of that decline is likely also due to smaller enrollment in local schools served by WSCC.

Chad Inabinet, dean of stu-dent services, this winter told the board of trustees the pool of students to bring in is declining. “We are going to be looking at what popu-lations we might be miss-ing,” he said, adding there might be more emphasis on dual enrollment, perhaps.

In the current semester, 251 students are dual enrolled at WSCC and at their home high school, a record for the college.

He noted there are less non-traditional students on campus, too.

“What do we do with that? We don’t have an an-swer for that yet,” Inabinet said. “We’re looking at those things.”

ChANGiNG times

Despite the enrollment dip, the college finds itself in a strong position. As more and more people question the costs of a four-year uni-versity degree, increasingly there are recommendations that families and students consider community col-leges as a good way to gain a needed education or start to a baccalaureate degree and benefit from lower costs while at a community college.

Patrick Anderson of the Anderson Economic Group recently told area business representatives attending a West Shore Bank sympo-sium at WSCC that the cost of a traditional college de-gree is high and that com-munity colleges offer a way to reduce those costs or get marketable certifications

and training without going the four-year college route.

Preparing students to graduate from high school or college with marketable skills is a need, Anderson said.

“Talent is an issue,” Mich-igan Lt. Gov. Brian Calley said at that same forum. “We need to think of hav-ing people coming out of high school and college job ready.”

Michigan Gov. Rick Sny-der also sees community colleges as having growing importance in providing skilled workers Michigan needs.

Ward noted President Barack Obama has also em-phasized the importance of community colleges and skilled trades.

WSCC partners with the West Shore Educational Ser-vice District on the Career Technical Education pro-gram. For 25 years the ESD and WSCC have partnered on a tech prep program.

“Of almost 22 years in higher education, this al-most is the best public partnership I’ve worked with,” Ward said.

Whether it’s school dis-tricts individually, busi-nesses, chambers of com-merce throughout the WSCC district, econom-ic development concerns throughout the district, West Shore Community Col-lege enjoys very strong com-munity supporters, Ward said.

fACilities“We always need to keep

the buildings up condition-wise and updated,” Ward said.

Earlier this month, the WSCC Board of Trustees ap-proved placing a request for a 10-year renewal of its capi-tal millage, first approved in 1995, before voters. Origi-nally 1 mill, due to Headlee tax rollback laws, the col-

lege this time will seek .9732 mills.

“We are in excellent con-dition because of the com-munity support we have, be-cause of the capital millage,” Ward said.

If voters again approve the millage, it will raise about $2.8 million, mostly for facil-ity updates, provide money for needed matching funds for state grants for facilities and technology, and to up-date equipment and technol-ogy.

To keep facilities at a good level, it’s estimated to cost $1.2 million per year, Ward said.

The college’s operating budget is $12 million a year. Without the capital millage money, either maintenance would suffer or money for academic programs would be reduced, he said.

He said it is important for the college to maintain good facilities and notes the public uses college facili-ties in many ways including public events, cultural ac-tivities such as theater and concerts, and the WSCC rec-reational facilities.

In the coming days and weeks, though, will be com-mencement and planning for transition to a new presi-dent.

“I think they have a great group of candidates and I’m excited to have someone on board making and further-ing the community connec-tions we have,” Ward said.

For him personally, step-ping into the interim presi-dents role presented “some unforeseen challenges and unforeseen rewards for my personal experience.”

On May 1, when 118 stu-dents graduate during com-mencement, Ward said he’ll enjoy that ceremony mark-ing those students’ success at WSCC.

“I think that will be one of more pleasurable moments of my tenure.”

A26-B16


time of transition at West shore Community College

on sChooLs

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Jeff Kiessel | daiLy newSA group of students study at West Shore Community College.

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Providing opportunities outside the classroomBY KeViN BRACisZesKidaiLy newS StaFF wRiteR

Two local educational programs are continuing to provide students with op-portunities to prepare for careers or further education in math, sciences and tech-nology.

The programs are the local Career and Technical Educa-tion (CTE) program, which operates through a partner-ship between the West Shore Educational Services District and West Shore Commu-nity College; and the Acad-emy of Science, Mathemat-ics and Technology, named ASM Tech, which is offered through the ESD in conjunc-tion with WSCC and the Man-istee Intermediate School District.

CteThe CTE program is of-

fered to high school juniors and seniors from the Lud-ington, Mason County Cen-tral, Mason County Eastern, Baldwin, Pentwater, Hart, Walkerville, Shelby, Manist-ee, Manistee Catholic Cen-tral, and Onekama school districts.

Programs offered this year include criminal justice, al-lied health, graphic arts, marketing, digital media, cu-linary arts, welding, mecha-tronics, automotive technol-ogies, construction trades, educator academy, and agri-science at a Hart location. Allied health is now also of-fered at a Hart location.

“Students have the oppor-tunity to have real-world ex-periences while earning high school credit and college ar-ticulated credits,” CTE/ASM Teach Principal Lynda Mat-son said about CTE. “For ex-ample, in our mechatronics course, students, as a team,

built an electric car and plan to race it towards the end of May. And currently, some of our allied health students are taking a break from clini-cal rotations to competing in HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America). This

national competition offers student scholarships as well as the opportunity to meet other students from all over that have similar interests in health science.”

Matson said about 400 lo-cal students participated in

CTE courses during the cur-rent school year.

“Over the past five years, our student numbers in CTE programs have steadily in-creased and we expect that to continue,” she said.

Asm teChThe ASM Tech program

was launched in 2011 as a way of attracting students who are interested in sci-ence, technology, engineer-ing, and mathematics and provide them with college courses in those subjects while they are still in high school.

ASM Tech students may graduate with both a high school diploma and up to an associate degree in five years — four years of high school including dual enrollment at WSCC and one year at WSCC. Participants get free tuition and books as well as support services to help them while in the program and later in college.

Students apply and are chosen for the ASM Tech program in 10th grade. The program is open to students in Oceana, Mason, Lake, and Manistee counties.

After five years of the com-bined high school and col-lege experience, ASM Tech

students are a year ahead of most members of their grad-uating class.

“The popularity of ASM Tech is growing as word spreads about the perks stu-dents can achieve through this program,” said Matson, who is also principal of ASM Tech.

The program graduated its first local students in spring 2014 and the second class is preparing for graduation this year.

“We have many student success stories and some include a student attending Michigan Tech who has de-cided to earn an addition-al bachelor’s degree and a student attending Michigan State who is on track to earn a Ph.D.,” said Matson. “Their participating in ASM Tech is one of the reasons both of these students are able to take advantage of these op-portunities.”


‘we have many student success stories and some include a student attending Michigan tech who has decided

to earn an additional bachelor’s degree and a student attending Michigan State who is on track to earn a Ph.d.’

lynda matsonprincipal of aSM tech/Cte

Jeff Kiessel | daiLy newS

A29-B19

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After many years in op-eration, Journey Junior/Senior High School will be dissolved soon and a new lo-cally chartered Gateway to Success Academy, or G2S, will begin.

“We’re still finalizing all the elements related to the dissolution of Journey,” said Jamie Bandstra, principal of Journey and president of the West Michigan Edu-cational Leadership Group (WMELG), the group that re-ceived grant money and is working to open the new school. “Although G2S Acad-emy will service some of the same students, it will be a completely new entity. G2S Academy will actually oper-ate as an additional school district within our commu-

nity. If we need to use the current Journey facility for an interim period, the com-munity will see an entirely new educational program. This enhanced project-based learning environment will incorporate exemplary ideas from programs across the country.”

JouRNeYJourney was launched as

an alternative high school many years ago to be a place for students who do not perform well in traditional school settings.

Bandstra said Journey’s enrollment was very consis-tent for the last six years at about 114 to 120 students in

the fall.“I think it’s been a good

year and we’re looking for-ward to graduation May 28,” he said. “It’s an exciting time to see them receive their di-plomas.”

Bandstra said the school graduated about 25 to 30 students during each of the past two years and he ex-pects a similar number for this year.

G2s ACAdemYBandstra announced pre-

liminary plans for G2S Acad-emy in September 2014. He said then the proposed school would replace Jour-ney and take care of those students’ needs and more.

“The intent is to provide an innovative project-based learning option within our local public school system that provides increased sup-ports and avenues for stu-

dent success,” said Bands-tra. “This model will focus on individualizing instruc-tion based on the learning needs of students and will allow students to uniquely interact with the curriculum through the development of real-world applications.”

Bandstra said his group is shooting for 125 students for the first year and ex-pects to set an enrollment cap of 200 students. He said in the early years the school should be able to survive with about 90 to 100 stu-dents — worth about $7,000 each in funding.

He has said he is not sure how future students would be chosen, whether it would be first come, first served or if some sort of quota system would be instituted allow-ing a certain number of stu-dents from each local school district.

As the end of the current school year nears, Bands-tra said WMELG is looking to possibly buy an empty building north of Scottville as G2S Academy’s future home. That building once housed a grocery store.

“We have not finalized any plans,” Bandstra has said, adding that the group is working to have an environ-mental assessment of the property completed before considering the purchase of the site.

He also said the building will have to be renovated to transform it into a school and that means G2S Acade-my will not move in for the fall.

“That’s not feasible so we’re looking for a tempo-rary facility,” Bandstra said.


gateway to success Academy plans taking shape‘i think it’s been a good year and we’re looking forward to graduation May 28. it’s an exciting time to see them receive their diplomas.’

Jamie BandstraPrincipal of journey and president of the

west Michigan educational Leadership group

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The Barn Quilt and Agriculture Trails launched in fall 2014 showcase Mason County’s agricultural heritage.

The Farmer’s Daughter quilt square on Jean and Shelly Sterley barn on 3966 Victory Drive is one of 10 quilt squares installed on barns last year. New barns are being sought. Applica-tions are being accepted now through June 1 Applications are available at the Ludington & Scottville Area Chamber of Commerce.

The barn quilt trail is one of five trails in the works by the Cultural Eco-nomic Development Task Force. In addition, the Lumber Heritage Trail has 38 stops ranging from cemetery sites to beds and breakfast and His-toric White Pine Village.

There are 17 stops on the Agricul-tural Trail with 14 in Mason County and three in Oceana County.

Next to be ready is the Sculpture Trail coming later this spring.

In 2016, the Maritime History Trail is expected to begin. Also on the near horizon is development of the Port of Ludington Maritime Museum in the

old U.S. Coast Guard Station Luding-ton, now owned by the City of Lud-ington. The Mason County Historical Society will operate the maritime mu-seum.

Also this year, the task force and Michigan State University Extension will offer “Breakfast on the Farm,” Saturday, July 11 at Stakenas Farms, 6716 N. U.S. 31 in Free Soil. Breakfast on the Farm is a free, family-friendly event that gives people a glimpse into modern-production agriculture. In addition to a pancake breakfast fea-turing Michigan-made products and self-guided tours of the farm, visitors will learn what it takes to be a both a dairy and crop farmer.

Stakenas Farms is one of five Michi-gan farms selected to host Breakfast on the Farm this year. A third-gener-ation dairy farm founded by Lithu-anian immigrants in 1919, Stakenas Farm is owned and operated today by Carl (Kay) and Bill (Terri) Stakenas. The Stakenases milk 500 cows and farm 700 acres of corn, 500 acres of alfalfa and 200 acres of wheat.

Barn quilt, ag trails help tourism

Progress edition 2015

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Transcript of Progress edition 2015