CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH GOV. GRETCHEN WHITMER (D-MICH)
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer touted Upper Peninsula successes as she spent a full day in Delta County, starting with a stop at Creative Composites in Rapid River, speaking at the U.P. State Fair, then visiting Engineered Machine Products to announce three major contracts for the company.
Whitmer (D-Mich.), at the Delta County Chamber of Commerce luncheon, told the crowd that the Upper Peninsula was well-represented in the new state budget that she signed this summer.
“We’re transforming Escanaba’s Billerud Mill,” the governor said to a cheering standing crowd inside the Activities Tent. “Supporting 800 good-paying jobs at the facility, and hundreds more during construction. Their products made here in the UP are essential to so many industries. We are thrilled that we were able to win this project. We had to compete, and make sure that we won.”
Earlier in the day, Whitmer was alongside the Michigan Economic Development Corporation touring the Creative Composites facility in Rapid River. Whitmer says the state will help the company as it looks to expand its current facility by 13,600 square feet, which will create 17 new jobs and house important new pieces of equipment, allowing the company to gain market share in defense and aerospace.
She says the 2024 state budget includes $5 million for the Michigan Defense Center, and Creative Concepts will benefit from some of it.
“They’re doing some of the most cutting-edge work, right in Rapid River, Michigan,” the governor told RRN News. “Whether it is military work, or it is automotive, or manufacturing, or batteries, it is happening right in Rapid River. It is exciting to see. We want to make sure that as they grow, they continue to grow here in the Upper Peninsula.”
Later, Whitmer went to Engineered Machine Products in Escanaba, where she had a tour of its facility. She says the new contracts for EMP to make components in electric school buses, hydrogen electric power generators, and a strategic hydrogen fuel cell order, will keep high-paying jobs in the Upper Peninsula.
“We are competing with everyone to land these opportunities,” Whitmer told RRN News. “We want to ensure that our current Michigan businesses grow. They’re getting courted by a lot of other states, and even other countries. To be producing electric school buses right here is really important. We are leading, but it’s not something we can take for granted. We’ve got to keep our sleeves rolled up, our pencils sharp, and we’ve got to do the work.”
Also at the fair, state representative Dave Prestin (R-Cedar River) was not impressed.
“So much money spent on pet projects downstate,” the first-term representative told RRN News. “The reality is, $15 million out of $83 billion came to the Upper Peninsula. Fifteen million. It’s easy to do the math on that. It’s just disappointing. I know we can do better, and we’re going to continue to advocate for us so that we do do better.”
While happy that the Billerud project was approved, Prestin says it shows that the UP has been overlooked for a long time.
“When Billerud was announced as the single-largest investment in the Upper Peninsula ever, it’s really kind of disappointing when you think of it that way,” Prestin said. “We are such a large land mass and we have so much to offer. I think it was long overdue when you think about that, as well as those other (U.P.) projects going forward.”
Whitmer, however, says she has not forgotten the Upper Peninsula, also pointing to her approval of the demolition of the old Marquette General Hospital site, “protecting 380 high-paying, high-skilled jobs” at Calumet Electrics as that company expands, and fighting for federal funding for the building of a new shipping lock at Sault Ste. Marie.
“It’s getting done, finally,” the governor said to another round of applause.
Comments