Exiles from LA and Chicago, High Tech and Low Tech Jobs, Unemployed Sociologists, and Lug Nuts

THE DEAL TO sell the Landmark Inn, announced a few months ago, still hasn't been finalized but it's getting closer. The transfer of the liquor license and a few other minor details are all that need to be ironed out.

Graves Hospitality, which is buying the hotel, hopes to have it done in January...or by March at the latest.

Meantime, they're going ahead with transition plans. The Landmark's senior managers have undergone Graves training, the corporate chef has come in to take a look at the Landmark, and Graves executives are planning changes at the Landmark's upscale restaurant, Capers.

They won't be specific about their plans yet, but they do anticipate a significant change in the physical layout of the restaurant, as well as in the menu and the price point.

Translation: Graves wants Capers (Will they change the name?) to be younger, hipper, more welcoming, and less expensive.

Let's be honest. Even those of us who love the current Capers have to admit it's a little staid and stodgy, entirely appropriate for special occasions and big budgets, but less so for the younger, on-the-town crowd who are seeking an appealing destination for food and drink.

The man who will be managing the new food and beverage operations at the Landmark is Mike Mering. He's a local boy who's coming home after a decade in Chicago where he's most recently been the general manager of The Bedford, a highly-regarded "New American" restaurant.

Why the return to the U.P? He wants a lifestyle change--the outdoors, the friendliness, the ease of getting around. Yeah, we can relate to that.
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A SIMILAR STORY over on Third Street.

Superior Productions, a video production house, has been bought by B.J. and Kristen Alden. They've renamed it Northcoast Post.

The Aldens have family here in Marquette and also downstate but for the last 15 years or so, they've lived in Atlanta, where B.J. worked as a producer on CNN's Larry King Live, and in Los Angeles where he worked at FUSE, a video music channel.

Enough of the big city life, they say, enough of the glitz, glamor and insecurity.

They'll jointly operate Northcoast Post where B.J. will produce and edit, and Kristen will be art director and graphic designer. They'll continue to work with Superior's local clients--weddings and such--but they've also lined up corporate and institutional clients from across the nation. They can offer them high end design, graphics, and animation.

The Aldens are young, talented and energetic.

And what do they like about Marquette? Life is easy here. Their home, work, and children's school are all within blocks of each other.

Can't really say that about Los Angeles and Atlanta.
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WE SENSE A trend here.

Young people re-locating to a spot that, ten years ago, was considered too remote to offer a rewarding professional challenge.

That's what the new Smartzone will be all about--luring young, web-savvy, high-tech entrepreneurs to Marquette with the promise of resources, counsel, and networking that might ensure success.

Next step for the Smartzone is appointing a board of directors and finding an executive director. That should come within the next few months. After that comes the push to find the smart young guys and gals with great ideas and a little bit of money.

Can high-tech and web-related businesses succeed in Marquette? Hell, yeah. Take a look at 906 Technologies, Elegant Seagulls, Stang Decision Systems, RTI Surgical, Frontier Medical Devices, Biotech Navigators, Devicepatent. com, and others.

Yes, you can make money here, and live within five minutes of where you work, and buy a nice house for under $200,000...if you can put up with five months of winter.
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ANOTHER TREND.

Making technical education sexy and appealing here.

There are too many college graduates out there with sociology and literature degrees, and heavy student debt, who can't find appropriate jobs. You'll see them working at box stores, selling computers and TV's, or working as baristas at Starbucks.

The jobs simply aren't out there for them. But there are jobs, here in the U.P, for plumbers, auto technicians, and heavy equipment operators. Jobs that can pay $50,000 a year and more, and allow you to stay here where you want to live.

That's where the Career Technical Education (CTE) committee comes in. They got together a year ago--five of them--to get schools and colleges in the U.P. to focus more on good technical training because that's what local companies said they wanted and needed. They had the jobs but they couldn't find trained people to fill those jobs!

Now CTE has 19 members and about 30 companies working with them, and they're busy.

Ishpeming High School now offers a Geometry in Construction class that has students building and renovating structures. Marquette High School will offer the same class next year. NMU offers an auto technician program that gives the students paid internships at car dealers. An HVAC program may be next.

Programs at Negaunee High School, Marquette High School and NMU offer students the opportunity to get their high school degrees while simultaneously getting college credit in clinical science or industrial maintenance, tuition free.

And these kids will find jobs and make some money, enabling them to buy their computers from those frustrated sociology majors at the box stores.
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REMEMBER THE DOUG Garrison Show?

It was a slick, locally produced interview show that ran on TV6 for more than two years but then went off the air about a year ago.

Well, it's back on Local 3, the CBS station, and Garrison, who's talented and ambitious, hopes and thinks this time he'll get solid support from his employer. At TV6, he had to buy the half hour of time from the station, pay all the employees and then go out and sell commercials.

At Local 3, all he has to do is produce and host the show. The station picks up the costs and sells the commercials.

The show has aired a only couple of times so far, at 6:30 pm on Sundays before 60 Minutes--a great time slot but it's been irregular because it's frequently pre-empted by NFL football. After football season, it should air regularly.

The UP needs locally produced shows about the UP, but they need to make money. Maybe this will work.

Oh, rumor has it that some clown from Word on the Street will be on this Sunday's edition of the show.

(Correction: Garrison's show aired on TV6's sister station, Fox UP.)
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CALLING ALL CONTRACTORS.

The city needs someone to build a brand new, relocated Municipal Services Center. The old one's being torn down to make way for the new hospital.

The budget for the new building is $18 million, so if you've got a power saw and a hammer and some nails, you might want to put in a bid.

The city hopes to narrow it down to five companies a little later this month, then choose the builder by the end of January.

Site of the new building is still undetermined. City officials say they'll hold a town hall meeting before they make a final decision on the site. Understandably, they don't want to step on too many toes here in town.
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A FINAL NOTE that may further help explain why big city boys and girls are fleeing to remote outposts like the Upper Peninsula.

Reporter takes his vehicle into Pomp's Tires suspecting he needs new tires for the winter. At the very least, he'll get them rotated.

After ten minutes, reporter is informed by Pomp's employee that tires still have plenty of tread. No need to buy new ones.

Great. Reporter saves a few hundred bucks. So just rotate them.

Twenty minutes later, car is ready, tires are rotated. Mechanic reminds reporter to bring the car in after 50 miles to get lug nuts adjusted.

Great. Will do. The bill says $24.00.

Reporter: "Okay, how about I pay by debit card?"

Mechanic: "Oh no, it's free. You owe nothing. You bought the tires a couple years ago so it's free. Don't forget about the lug nuts."

Reporter, his wallet untouched, leaves shop thinking, Golly, we sure live in a nice community.


You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com

If you want to be notified when Word on the Street is posted, go to Word on the Street by Brian Cabell on Facebook and "like" it.

Marquette Displayed, Heavy Hitters Pitched, Rowers Relieved, and Liquor License Denied

TOO BAD ABOUT the wet and blustery weather this week because Marquette is on display before 1000 of  Michigan's movers and shakers.

You may have noticed them on the streets and in the restaurants, bars and hotel lobbies--members of the Michigan Municipal League. They're politicians, city officials and lobbyists from all over the state. Only rarely do they venture this far north for their convention.

In a very real sense, Marquette is a poster child for city revitalization and can provide lessons for other languishing cities and towns.

You don't have to go back very far--30 or 40 years--to remember when Marquette's waterfront was an industrial slum and its downtown was all but dead. Today? A brilliant and striking contrast.

The often unappreciated partnership between government and private enterprise has led the way.
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THE MUNICIPAL LEAGUE has just published  a book, The Economics of Place: The Art of Building Great Communities, and no surprise, several pages are devoted to the turnaround in Marquette.

A quote: "Today, the city of Marquette essentially owns and controls its entire waterfront, a fact that has had a profound impact on its sense of place as a scenic waterfront community."

The book goes on to praise the city's brownfield cleanup, its embrace of its historical heritage while welcoming new development, and its promotion of the city as an outdoors community flush with bike trails everywhere.

Also mentioned: brew pubs ("Brew pubs have just gone nuts here"), the Landmark Inn ("History and architecture buffs have made it a favorite spot on the circuit of national historic hotels"), the remarkably popular and sold-out Beerfest ("The only problem might be too much success"), and the Vierling ("They actually still walk down to the harbor each day and get the fish fresh off the dock").

We've got a lot to boast about. Now, if we could just do something about the rain and the wind. And the icebergs in the harbor on May 30th.
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A NEW CHAPTER on the city's future was being written this week at M Bank on Washington Street.

About twenty heavy hitters (annual income of $200,000 or net worth of $1,000,000) gathered to hear a pitch to become angel investors in Marquette's new Smartzone.

Angel investors invest in small, start-up companies in need of cash.

The Smartzone, with substantial financial incentives for high tech entrepreneurs, will be taking shape over the next six months throughout the city.

You like high tech? You like taking a bit of a gamble on smart people with new ideas? You like investing locally? You got an extra 50 grand burning a hole in your pocket? This is an opportunity to make a difference to your net worth, and to your hometown.
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WE DON'T WANT to jump the gun on this but it sure looks like the once controversial and much delayed boathouse on Lake Superior, near the Hampton Inn, will become a reality within a few years.

The Marquette Planning Commission and the City Commission have now approved the plan to lease the boathouse to the Upper Peninsula Community Rowing Club.

Issues may still crop up but it appears that final approval of the rezoning of the site by the City Commission is all that remains. That should come at its October 27th meeting, just before the next election which, with new members, could have thrown the entire issue into doubt.

What you're hearing now is a collective sigh of relief from the rowers who've been planning this for four years and struggling to get it through the City Commission for eighteen months.

Most of the criticism died when the UPCRC agreed to build the boathouse but let the city maintain ownership of the property.

One teeny, tiny obstacle remains. The club has to raise a paltry $600,000 over the next few years to build the boathouse. Here's a guess: these women (and the club, for some reason, is mostly women) will do it ahead of schedule. They're a smart, tenacious, and well-connected bunch.
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SO YOU STILL can't order a Corona with your burrito at Sol Azteca?

Nope. Management at the Mexican restaurant which opened since last winter (sans alcohol) bought a liquor license a few months back from a Gwinn business, but has still not gotten state approval to actually sell liquor.

The food's been good and inexpensive but management is frustrated because they're losing money. They say several tourists have sat down to order, then gotten up and left upon learning that alcohol wasn't on the menu.

Here's the back story. Sol Azteca management has gone to State Representative John Kivela looking for help. Kivela inquired and learned the Liquor Control Commission has denied the restaurant's application for a liquor license. No reason was given to Kivela.

Now the license denial is going through the appeal process. No word yet on when that will be completed.

So Sol Azteca has a liquor license but they can't use it, at least not yet.

In the meantime, they'll ply you with soft drinks and water. Yum.
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CONTRARY TO EXPECTATIONS a few months ago, the tiny but much loved Huron Earth Deli on South Third Street is still open.

The owner thought she would close down and complete the sale of the building to an out-of-state couple within a few weeks.

It's taken longer than anticipated but the sale is still going to happen. Meantime, Huron Earth Deli's doors are still open with a limited inventory, including its near legendary crawfish chowder.

The new owners, by the way, will be also operating a food-related business on the site. That's good news for the neighborhood, certainly a better choice than a dental office or an auto supply shop. Or a bar.


You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com

If you want to receive Word on the Street when it's posted, go to Word on the Street by Brian Cabell on Facebook and  "like" it.

A New Day for the Landmark Inn

WELL, THE RUMORS that have been leaking out over the past few weeks are true. The Landmark Inn is being sold.

The principals in the deal haven't felt comfortable in confirming the rumors until now because of the uncertainties and complications in any major transaction, and the final papers are still not signed. But it now appears the sale, which has been in the works for the last year, will be completed within the next several weeks.

The new owners, Graves Hospitality out of Minneapolis, come in with a helluva reputation for buying and then enhancing hotels. One of their former flagship properties, the Graves 601 Hotel Minneapolis, was named one of the best 500 hotels in the world by Travel and Leisure magazine.

Food and beverage is another specialty for Graves. Their Bradstreet Craftshouse Restaurant in Minneapolis was named the sixth best bar in America by Food and Wine magazine.

So, yeah, these are bigtime players with bigtime ambitions.

An interesting side note: Jim Graves, the cofounder of Graves Hospitality and the founder of the AmericInn franchise, ventured into politics in 2012.
He was the Democratic candidate opposing Tea Party goddess Michele Bachmann in one of Minnesota's most conservative districts. In spite of being outspent 12 to 1 by the incumbent Bachmann, Graves nearly pulled off a huge upset.

Maybe that'll win him some points with Marquette's progressives.

Nevertheless, anytime you have a sale like this--transitioning from a small group of local owners to a bigger, out-of-state corporate owner, you have concerns.

Will the new owners just be intent on running a slick, money-making operation with no concern for the special place that the Landmark occupies in Marquette and the Upper Peninsula? Will the new owners be as generous with their time, money and energy as general manager and owner Christine Pesola was with hers in supporting community events and organizations?

There's good reason to believe Graves Hospitality understands all this. Matt Mering, who's the vice president of food and beverage and development for Graves, is from Marquette. His mother and father live here. They know and love the Landmark Inn and have been customers for years. They understand and appreciate the Landmark as only locals can.

Will there be some changes? Absolutely. Graves Hospitality has some money and ideas to improve the Landmark. Those will be laid out in the months ahead.

As for Christine Pesola and her ex-husband Bruce Pesola, they remain as investors in the the hotel. They're not going anywhere.

For Christine, this has been a 17 year love affair with the hotel, the employees and the thousands of guests who've stayed at the Landmark Inn and enjoyed the food, drink and company there. Back in 1997, she was a self-described hippie who was suddenly thrust into the role of general manager with virtually no management experience. She learned on the job.

The hotel endured serious financial troubles in the early days but survived to become, arguably, the centerpiece of a revived and prosperous downtown Marquette.

It's a hotel that's felt equally comfortable opening up its elegant lobby to host hockey events and symphony events. Its New Years Eve parties, open to all with free admission, are legendary.

The Pesolas, along with Christine's late parents Joe and Marvelle, and minority owners Bob Cowell and Al Hunter, all made it possible when the old hotel, inhabited by pigeons, looked like it might have a date with a wrecking ball. Possibly against their better judgment, the investors spent their money and energy on a dream that, amazingly, became a reality.

Now it's a new day. Let's see what Graves Hospitality does with that jewel on top of the hill on Front Street.


(Full disclosure: I'm a very good friend of Christine Pesola.)

You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com

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TV6 Changes Ahead?

Keep your eyes on TV6 and Fox UP in the weeks ahead. The Sinclair Broadcast Group recently bought WLUC, which operates both  TV6 and Fox UP, and now the employees are waiting to see what happens next. Who's going? Who's staying? Any programming changes? It's fair to say there's an air of nervousness in the halls of the station.

On the other hand, a big, well-funded broadcast group (Sinclair now owns 164 stations nationwide) just might decide to pour some money into one of its newest acquisitions.

Of concern to some employees and U.P. viewers: Sinclair has a controversial reputation when it comes news and politics. Back in 2004 on its ABC stations, it refused to air a Nightline segment that dramatically listed all of the dead soldiers from the Iraq war. Later that year, just before the presidential election, 62 of its stations preempted prime time programming to air a documentary highly critical of Democratic candidate John Kerry.

And in 2010 a handful of its stations aired an anti-Obama infomercial.

Partisan politics, news and business can make for a toxic mix.

Let's hope the local news coverage here doesn't suffer (Maybe it expands!) and everybody keeps their jobs. Too often, these big broadcast groups come in to a small market and say all the right things...and the next thing you know, they're tightening the purse strings and booting people out the door.
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Speaking of TV6, still no word on whether current and former news employees will be getting a lump sum for back pay.

In case you hadn't heard, the US Department of Labor came to town a couple months back and interviewed several news employees and determined they weren't making adequate salaries for the hours they worked.

Shortly afterwards, salaries for beginning employees were boosted from around $18,000 to $23,000 plus. A nice little hike that put smiles on the faces of the news kids.

Back pay? Nothing announced so far.

Full disclosure: I was the news director at WLUC from 2004 to 2011 and tried, probably not hard enough, to get salaries raised. The reasoning behind the paltry pay? If young, ambitious reporters were willing to accept a miserable salary, it wasn't management's role to insist they take more. Business is about making profits.
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Did you see the Jim Harrison article in the Sunday New York Times? Pretty damn flattering. Before moving to Montana, he lived in Grand Marais and often visited Marquette.

He had especially kind words for The Landmark Inn ("a hotel of New York standards") and the Vierling ("a restaurant I would visit every day"). It's priceless advertising to a national audience that has money and may not have heard of the UP until now.

Harrison hasn't been back here in a few years but he's fondly remembered for his sparkling conversation and his fine taste in food and drink.
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As for paid advertising, did you know that Marquette County has been promoted on the jumbo screen in Times Square in New York City?

It's just a four second spot every hour but it's a huge invitation, complete with photos, to come visit Marquette County. It's already been up twice this summer, again on Thanksgiving, and then again this coming New Years Eve. It plays for several days around those dates.

Pat Black of the Visitors and Convention Bureau is the brains behind the campaign. She wants to play with the big boys.


You got news? Contact me at briancabell@gmail.com

New book due out soon

It's titled, "Portrait of a Peninsula" and it'll be unveiled in a few more weeks on Sunday, December 5th.

The book is a collaboration between me and the artist Paul Grant, featuring more than 80 of his paintings over the last 4o years, accompanied by text written by me.

It's a celebration of Paul's paintings and of the Upper Peninsula where he's lived almost continuously since 1970. I, on the other hand, moved here only six years ago but have fallen equally in love with the place.

Christine Pesola, the owner and general manager of the Landmark Inn, first suggested the collaboration more than a year ago. Paul and I, who were acquainted with one another at the time, started meeting weekly at the Northland Pub to talk about his paintings and the U.P. We also took a few driving trips to get to know each other better, and soon I was taking voluminous notes and Paul was busily collecting paintings from patrons who had bought them over the decades so that we could scan them for the book.

We've seen an advance copy of "Portrait of a Peninsula" and it's gorgeous. It's 11 by 14 inches, hardback with a dust jacket, and with the finest quality paper. We're excited.

The official unveiling will be Sunday afternoon, December 5th, in the Landmark Inn lobby. Paul will be there, signing the books. We'll also have food and drink. In other words, a party, and everyone's invited.

For years, friends and fans of Paul have been suggesting he put out a book like this, and in fact, a couple of decades ago, he and John Voelker had been discussing a similar project, but it never happened. Voelker died shortly afterwards. After that, another project was proposed--one that would honor Voelker through Paul's paintings---but again, it didn't happen.

Now it is happening.

We believe the book honors Voelker, Paul's paintings, and the Upper Peninsula, and we hope you'll agree.

By the way, after the initial unveiling, "Portrait of a Peninsula" will also be available on this website.

The Monstrosity on Ridge Street

It was one of the most dispiriting experiences I've had since I moved to the U.P. more than six years ago.

The Marquette City Board of Zoning Appeals Thursday evening overruled an earlier Planning Commission decision, and voted to approve the construction of a butt-ugly six-story building next to the graceful Citadel building on Ridge Street.

The developers, who should be ashamed of themselves, will have to shoehorn the monstrosity next to the Citadel because the plot of land they'll occupy together is tiny. The incongruity of the two buildings will be a sight to behold, an embarrassment for a town that has prided itself on its physical and architectural charm.

The architect, John Larson, should be ashamed. The building is utterly without architectural merit. It is a six story high box.

And above all, the Board of Zoning Appeals should be ashamed. Knowing all the facts and seeing the architect's rendition of the monstrosity, they voted 6-1 to overturn the Planning Commission's decision and give a thumbs-up to the aesthetically challenged developers and architect.

The six Board members essentially said, "What can we do? The proposed building is the appropriate size for that area, which is at the border of a residential neighborhood and downtown, and it'll be for an appropriate use--greater housing density---so therefore it's fine. Its boxiness and ugliness and its utter incongruity with its next door neighbor is irrelevant."

Really?

Joe Constance, the lone dissenter on the Board, then raised this question: What would happen if someone proposed constructing a pink, fluorescent building on that same site with the appropriate height and the appropriate use? Would that be okay, as well?

The six aesthetes glanced at each other and were silent. They had no answer because to apply their logic, they would have to approve the pink building or any building that was proposed with the appropriate size and use.

All they had to do was walk around the neighborhood and open their eyes. The monstrosity will not fit, either with the Citadel or the surrounding neighborhood. Its physical appearance will be appalling.

As City Commissioner Fred Stonehouse futilely pointed out at the meeting, if this six story box goes up, we'll have to live with it for the next several decades. It'll be a blight on Marquette, it'll chip away at the architectural beauty that has made so many of us proud.

But the developers will have had their victory. One of them, in making his case before the Board, claimed that the owner of the Citadel had been trying to sell the property for $500,000, but never had any takers. So what were they to do?

Wrong. The owner was asking for much more. The Landmark Inn, in fact, would have paid $500,000 for the Citadel, and made it an integral and charming part of the Landmark property, but the owner wouldn't budge on the price.

So now we are left with the monstrosity on Ridge Street....and a court battle that looms ahead.