Monthly Meetings of the Keweenaw Industrial Council

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Memo from the Executive Director

The next KIC member meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, June 9th at 7:30 a.m. at the UPPCo Headquarters Building Community Room. A continental breakfast will be served -- pastry, fruit, yogurt, breakfast bars, coffee and juice.

The June 9th meeting has been long anticipated, as the KIC has been working for many months with Dan Longeway of Palmer and Cay, a downstate compensation and benefits consulting firm, to elicit interest from health insurers to "pool" KIC members into a larger group that could qualify for lower health insurance rates. This concept has apparently never been tried in Michigan and requires all of us to think outside the health insurance box. This initiative is in response to comments from a number of KIC members that health insurance rates and annual increases have become a hardship for many members, and un-affordable for others.

Humana, a nationwide health insurance company, has recently expressed interest in working with the KIC in a pilot project to determine if this concept will work for both KIC members and for Humana. Humana representatives John Crusse, Vice President of Sales, and Gordon Erley, Sales Executive, will present their proposal for lower cost health insurance for KIC members. I encourage you to visit their website, www.humana.com prior to the meeting. A brief overview of Humana is enclosed.

We will also be arranging meetings for groups of companies and for individual companies later that day. You should contact me at 482-6817 if you would like to meet with the Humana reps to explore how their products might serve your company.

Gary Horsfall of GFP Strandwood had originally been scheduled to be the presenter at this meeting, and we appreciate his willingness to delay his presentation to accommodate Humana. We also look forward to his presentation when KIC member meetings resume in the Fall.

See you at the meeting!

Upcoming Meeting Location & Agenda

Keweenaw Industrial Council
Monthly Membership Meeting
Wednesday, June 9, 2004, 7:30 a.m.
UPPCo Headquarters Building, Community Room
Houghton, Michigan

Meeting Agenda

1. Approval of May 12, 2004 Meeting Minutes
2. Financial Report -- Bob Dupont
3. Member Issues & Announcements
• Keweenaw Mountain Lodge Update -- Barb Foley, Elaine Mendelin
4. Presentation -- Humana's Proposal to Provide Lower Cost Health Insurance to KIC Members through a "Pooled" arrangement, by John Crusse and Gordon Erley, Humana, & Dan Longeway, Palmer & Cay
5. Adjourn regular monthly meeting 8:30 a.m.

Note: There will be no KIC membership meetings in July and August. Meetings will resume in September. Have a great summer!

Minutes - May 12, 2004

Keweenaw Industrial Council
www.kicbiz.com
600 E. Lakeshore Drive, Houghton, Michigan 49931
Telephone: 906-482-6817, FAX: 906-482-3203
Monthly Membership Meeting
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
UPPCo Headquarters Building, Community Room
Houghton, Michigan

Present:

KIC President, Frank Stipech, called the meeting to order at 7:35 a.m.

Minutes -- The minutes of the March 10, 2004 meeting were approved as presented (Jenich/Dixon).

Financial Report -- Bob Dupont, KIC Treasurer, reported that as of March 31, 2004 the KIC checking account balance was $65,791.71. Certificates of deposit and other accounts had a balance of $39,004, and the Keweenaw Revolving Loan Fund had a balance of $45,339.48.

Member Announcements

• Tim & Sue Bies of Michigan House Cafe announced they now offer upstairs rooms decorated historically and with kitchen, private bath and main room. Prices are $55-$75.
• Evan Dixon announced he is attending an export seminar downstate and is available to assist local businesses get into exporting, or expand their overseas presence.
• Dennis Hext, Manager of the Houghton County Memorial Airport, announced he recently met with Northwest Airlines officials who stated they are basically satisfied with the current level of service in Houghton but would consider adding an additional flight to Minneapolis or Detroit if it were subsidized by the state or the local community. Mesaba is currently carrying 2,000-2,500 passengers per month, about the same number as when there were more flights. North Star Flight Service is experiencing initial low demand for their direct flights to Detroit.

Executive Director's Report

• Ironwood Plastics will not be locating a production facility in Houghton County this Spring, but is leaving the door open to locating here at a later time. One of the company's major markets is the automotive industry which has been slower than they had thought. The State of Michigan, Houghton County and the KIC have offered a $2 million incentive package to the company which will remain on the table if Ironwood Plastics requests an extension of the timeframe for accepting the incentives.
• The KIC organized and sponsored a meeting of 22 economic development agencies in the 3-county region to increase coordination of the agencies and to promote partnerships on economic development projects. The meetings will be held twice annually. The KIC and the Keweenaw Peninsula Chamber of Commerce will co-sponsor the next meeting.

Presentation: Joel Tuoniniemi of the Keweenaw County Road Commission discussed the efforts to winterize and expand the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge (KML) facilities to accommodate large groups of 200-250 people and to attract people engaging in the silent sports. Keweenaw County has formed two citizen steering groups -- one to develop a business plan and the other to devise a x-country ski trail system -- that have been planning the project since January, 2004. Joel made the following points:

• 17 large groups were turned down in 2003 because the KML couldn't accommodate them; a year around facility would bring many more conferences, weddings, etc and many additional tourists, providing more customers & revenues for all Keweenaw County businesses.
• Federal financing agencies indicated they would only help finance the expansion and winterization if it were a year-around facility. USDA Rural Development is offering $1.25 million loan at low interest for 20-30 years.
• The County would issue a revenue bond that would use the additional Lodge revenues to pay off the bond. The U.S. Economic Development Agency is offering a $1.25 million GRANT.
• These funds would be used to: winterize the Lodge, construct a 6,000 s.f. conference facility directly behind and similar in appearance to the Lodge; winterize 24 of the cabins, winterize the Lodge gift shop. This work will be done in a historically correct manner as determined by the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office.
• The additional KML revenues should be more than adequate to pay off the revenue bond.
• The Lodge could employ up to 80 people, would be the largest employer in Keweenaw County and would have a significant economic impact throughout the Keweenaw Peninsula. It is likely that expansion of the KML would lead to expansions of other local businesses.
• Skiers at Mt. Bohemia could stay at the KML if it were open in the winter since Mt. Bohemia is only a 12-15 minute drive from Copper Harbor.

A motion was made by Fink and supported by Hopper for the Keweenaw Industrial Council to support the proposed winterization and expansion of the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge. 33 attendees voted for the proposal and 1 voted against. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 8:35 a.m.

Rick Wright conducted a tour of Keweenaw Memorial facilities, including the new CT Scanner.

Respectfully submitted,

Philip Musser

Acting Secretary

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