CLICK TO HEAR JACK HALL’S INTERVIEW WITH SARAH LONG, WESTERN U.P. CVB, AND MARY BETH FAZIO, LAKE GOGEBIC CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
The slow start to winter’s usual snow and ice machine are having what officials in the western Upper Peninsula are calling a “disastrous financial impact” on the entire small business community in the region. These small businesses rely on winter tourism and recreation for their survival and the winter season customarily accounts for approximately 85% of these small businesses’ annual revenue. But until only very recently, there has been little or no snow in “Big Snow Country”, which has led to a decline in visitors who normally would come to the area for skiing, snowmobiling, sledding, snowshoeing, and ice fishing.
Without snowmobilers, skiers, ice fishermen, snowshoers, and out-of-state tourists, these businesses do not have the ability to generate revenue to pay bills, employees, vendors, and all other servicerelated industry partners.
The heads of the Lake Gogebic Area Chamber of Commerce and the Western Upper Peninsula Convention and Visitors Bureau both tell RRN News that the recent snowfall, combined with this week’s below-zero temperatures, are a “good first step” toward reouping some of the losses from November, December, and early January. But this burst of winter, on its own, is not enough to make up for the millions of dollars of losses already suffered earlier this winter.
The coalition of small business owners in Gogebic and Ontonagon Counties have officially appealed to the State of Michigan for assistance.
As of last week, those 3 Gogebic and Ontonagon businesses have reported combined revenue losses of $3.116,494 million for the month of December alone, which really comes down to 7 days in December (December 26-31), when there was no snow, and thus, very few visitors, coming to the region.
That financial loss is money that is lost, and no matter how much snow falls the rest of the winter, won’t be recouped.
The businesses are calling it a “crisis situation” that is “comparable to a hurricane or any other natural disaster minus the devastation or loss of life”, and should be given the same attention as any other relief effort.
Mary Beth Fazio, the president of the Lake Gogebic Chamber, and Sarah Long, the head of the Western U.P. CVB, both stress that they “are not asking for a handout”, but rather, a “hand-up” in the form of any marketing that might be done that could bring more people to the western U.P. for winter vacations.
Both women say they’re not taking this situation laying down. They have reached out to their state lawmakers, and to the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, to ask for support. The Lake Gogebic Area Chamber has also scheduled workshops for their members designed to help them navigate through these challenging times, and to plan for the remainder of 2024 in the hope that they can increase tourism for their region and spur economic recovery.
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