UPPER PENINSULA, Mich. (WLUC) — Upper Michigan businesses are slowly recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The areas that will emerge best from the pandemic are the areas with truly unique amenities,” said Marty Fittante, CEO of InvestUP.
InvestUP CEO Marty Fittante says tourism has skyrocketed in the UP since the pandemic lockdowns were lifted and businesses reopened. This trend has yet to slow down.
Fittante believes Upper Michigan’s natural beauty draws people in. “I daresay there is no better place for quality of life than the Upper Peninsula. If you look at the traffic the upper peninsula has seen in the midst of the pandemic, that speaks for itself,” Fittante said.
Fittante believes the high number of visitors spending is helping the upper peninsula’s economy recover faster than others. “I’ve been down in Lansing for the last three or four weeks and when you see what’s happened to their downtown area and how they’ve struggled to get by compared to how we’re actually doing, I think we’re doing quite a bit are happy, all in all”, called Fittante.
Mary Myers, business development director for the Lake Superior Community Partnership, says UP businesses are performing averagely despite strong tourism. “We’ve actually seen companies stay pretty consistent, they don’t do it badly and they don’t do it exceptionally,” Myers said.
However, Myers says start-up companies are forming at a rapid pace in upper Michigan. Another factor contributing to the recovery of the economy after the pandemic. “We typically see between 10% and 15% of startups and that number has actually doubled from 31% last year,” Myers said.
Fittante and Myers are both positive about the future of business development and economic growth in Marquette County and the Upper Peninsula.
However, the widespread problem of affordable housing remains, and everyone says this needs to be solved to attract and keep people in the UP
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