What to Watch: What will make headlines in 2025

By Craig Manning, Art Bukowski, Kierstin Gunsberg & Ross Boissoneau

January 2025

It’s January and that means it’s time for the TCBN’s list of happenings in and around Traverse City as we head into the New Year. Here are previews of the people, places, projects and products that business owners and influentials should be watching in the New Year, including an ambitious plan by the GT Regional Land Conservancy, Garfield Township’s first-ever manager, global tariffs, progress of the Ann Arbor-TC rail initiative and many more.

Fast Tests, Faster (PFAS) Cleanup

“It’s easy to be motivated because it's really exciting,” said Wave Lumina founder and managing director Vernon LaLone as he reflected on the year ahead. Launched in 2023, Wave Lumina is a Traverse City-based blue tech startup working on a portable detection device called the Contamination Field Screening Device (CFSD) to screen for PFAS, a group of synthetic chemical compounds known to be harmful to humans.

Their compact machine has the potential to create a big impact on the Great Lakes, which provides drinking water to 10% of Americans. “We have a working prototype, so the device itself is functional,” said LaLone. But, “(i)t’s not pretty.”

Pretty or not, once the CFSD gets through its research and development phase, Wave Lumina plans to manufacture it for the masses. The goal is to equip environmental engineers and remediation experts with the ability to sample and run on-site PFAS tests quickly. Faster testing means faster cleanups of the harmful chemicals.

The startup is vying to bring the CFSD to market in 2026, which LaLone believes will be an easy sell for an issue that’s spreading faster than anyone can keep up with. As of last year (2024) nearly 300 PFAS contamination sites have been identified in Michigan, including a plume at Camp Grayling. 

Production of the CFSD will also create more jobs in Traverse City, says Lalone.

”I really want to help build this kind of blue tech economy up here,” he said.

Before that can happen, the company will focus on offering the CFSD’s benefits as a service to environmental engineers across the state this year, simultaneously building product awareness and generating revenue needed to complete it.

“Refining both our hardware and the user interface” will be key to commercializing the prototype, says LaLone.

In the meantime, the company has traded its humble beginnings in LaLone’s spare bedroom for bonafide lab space at NMC’s Aero Park Campus.

“We wouldn’t be able to do what we’ve been doing with our technology development without that space,” he said.

The new facility also bolsters the company’s grant applications. “When we make our proposals for funding, these agencies are going to see that not only are we committed and have a cool idea, but we've also got the space to execute our plan," he said. "And so that's really critical to actually getting the funding. It's a huge aspect.”

Wave recently won $10,000 at the Manufacturing Pitch Competition in Jackson and is actively applying for funding, including Small Business Innovation Research Grants. “I’ve got my fingers crossed,” LaLone said. “We’ll hear back probably this coming spring, maybe earlier about a lot of that stuff.”

Leelanau's 'Lemonade Bartender' Aims to Grow Pop-Up Business

As the new year kicks off, a quarter of Americans are ringing it in with “Dry January,” a month-long alcohol detox – though for many Gen Zers and younger Millennials, sobriety is more than a trend, it’s a lifestyle. Despite older demographics actually ramping up their drinking habits over the last two decades, alcohol consumption among 18- to 34-year-olds has dropped by nearly 14%, according to Gallup.

Social media messaging around health and wellness, plus more awareness around the mental benefits of not drinking, are “a big reason why younger people aren't drinking,” said Christian Yaple, owner of The Leelanau Lemonade Stand.

Yaple (who is in recovery and an advocate for mindful alcohol consumption) debuted his pop-up beverage business last summer, setting up at festivals and events like Leelanau Uncaged to offer N/A options to thirsty crowds. 

So far, he’s sold more than 1,500 fresh-squeezed and mixed lemonades, including his cherry and strawberry bestsellers, and jokes that he’s “basically a lemonade bartender.”

The dad of two aims to grow The Leelanau Lemonade Stand into a family-run biz; he’s already put his kids to work labeling cups and hopes to normalize a good time sans-alcohol. He notes that when serving at events, people who felt they'd hit their alcohol limit along with designated drivers expressed excitement about an alternative in the beverage lineup.

“Just being able to be that option for people is good, especially when you make it fun,” he said.

That sentiment is catching on. The Google search term “mocktails” hit an all-time high in 2024 while “hwachae” (a carbonated Korean fruit punch) recipes flooded TikTok streams.

Even restaurants and tasting rooms along northern Michigan’s wine coast are exploring the trend. At French Valley Vineyards, where Yaple served up lemonade at an October concert, a 150 square-foot shop offering alcohol-free beverages is set to open in April. While Yaple hopes N/A options continue their mainstream heyday, he acknowledged the vital impact alcohol tourism has on northern Michigan's economy – and that the states $15 billion beer and wine industry isn’t going anywhere.

Yet as Gen Z and Millennial spending power increases, newer wineries like Gilchrist Farm are appealing to the teetotalers, building mocktail and zero-alcohol beer options into their menu. Many who do stop in for a glass of wine are drinking less, notes Gilchrist’s business manager George Brittain. “Rather than people walking in for 15 minutes and drinking 1.5 glasses of wine, then driving to the next winery, our guests will stay for snacks or a full meal while drinking a similar amount of wine,” he said.

Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail's Segment 9 Hangs In Limbo

A controversial expansion of the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail may be dead in the water, but 2025 will reveal the ultimate fate of the project.

One of the biggest stories of 2024 in Leelanau County was the debate around Segment 9, a proposed 4.25-mile span of trail that would have extended the Heritage Trail from its current stopping point at Bohemian Road to its long-planned northern terminus at Good Harbor Trail. That segment would have finished up the full 26-mile vision for the Heritage Trail, which the National Park Service and TART Trails have been working to bring to fruition since 2005.

However, controversy around Segment 9 and its potential environmental impacts reared its head in early 2024 and quickly became one of the year’s key tug-of-war narratives. Last January, the local property owners group Little Traverse Lake Association (LTLA) released a study they’d commissioned from Borealis Consulting in Traverse City, which estimated that that Segment 9 location would require routing trail through sensitive dune and wetland ecosystems and removing nearly 7,300 trees. The study touched off a torrent of bad press for the trail, and caused other entities – including the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians (GTB) – to denounce the project.

All the pushback had an effect: In November, Scott Tucker, park superintendent for the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, announced that the park was pausing design work for Segment 9 indefinitely. When asked for a reason, Tucker pointed to the GTB’s concerns about the trail, pledging to TCBN sister publication the Leelanau Ticker that the project wouldn’t resume without the tribe’s blessing. Tucker added that he hoped to continue talks with the Tribe in 2025, which means there is a slim chance Segment 9 could come back in a slightly different form sometime this year.

“It's paused, and if it restarts up again, it will be in conjunction with the GTB for a new planning effort,” Tucker said.

A press release sent out by the park in November added that the existing Segment 9 design – which was set to be completed sometime this winter – would “serve as a foundation for future planning efforts,” if/when the project resumes.

New Michigan Cherry Grower Alliance Aims for Fresh Industry Narrative

2024 was one of the worst years on record for Michigan’s cherry industry. State estimates indicate that at least three-quarters of the Michigan cherry crop were lost due to unfavorable weather conditions, disease pressure, and invasive pests, among other problems. Things were so bad that the USDA even granted a disaster declaration, making emergency federal assistance available for impacted cherry farmers in northern Michigan.

The blast radius from 2024 makes the local cherry industry a must-watch sector in 2025, first to see how farmers will bounce back; second to see what growing conditions might look like come spring and summer; and third, to monitor the progress of the Michigan Cherry Grower Alliance (MCGA), a grassroots group launched in 2024 to identify paths forward for the state’s embattled cherry industry.

Leelanau County’s Leisa Eckerle-Hankins formed the MCGA in spring 2024 to serve as a convener. Since then, the group has held regular meetings where stakeholders from throughout the state get together in the same room, talk about challenges, and brainstorm ways to make things better.

While the MCGA was technically up and running before the Michigan cherry sector’s dire year, Eckerle-Hankins already felt at the time that doom and gloom had become the chief narrative in the industry. The MCGA was intended as an antidote – a way to get proactive and find a path forward, rather than wallowing in bad news.

Eckerle-Hankins, who is both a fifth-generation farmer in Leelanau and the owner of the Traverse City cherry-centric gift shop Benjamin Twiggs, is optimistic that the MCGA will make a difference in the future. She’s particularly hopeful that banding together will give Michigan’s cherry growers more of a voice for change with state and congressional legislators, as well as with cherry industry boards like Cherry Marketing Institute (CMI) and the Cherry Industry Administrative Board (CIAB).

On the legislative side, the MCGA is after things like bigger tariffs on fruit imports, better pricing for tart cherries out in the marketplace, or other farmer-friendly policies. On the industry boards front, goals include new market prospects and better marketing and promotion.

The big-picture goal, though, is nothing less than saving the Cherry Capital of the World.

“People say, ‘Is the Cherry Capital going away?’ No!” Eckerle-Hankins said. “In Michigan, we still produce over 100 million pounds of cherries. Utah produces 35 million. So, we're not going to lose that status. But it's important for us to change the narrative. We have to look at the positives and at what we can do to move forward.”

Big Leaps Forward in the Fight Against Local Homelessness

Though long an issue in northern Michigan, homelessness became a lightning rod for attention and controversy in 2024.

Much of that debate circulated around Safe Harbor, and the question of whether that wintertime homeless shelter should be permitted to stay open year-round. While city leaders ultimately decided not to move forward with summertime Safe Harbor operations in 2024, commissioners voted in September to allow the shelter to explore becoming a year-round operation.

According to Ashley Halladay-Schmandt, who leads the Northwest Michigan Coalition to End Homelessness, forward momentum for Safe Harbor is just one of several irons the organization has in the fire to make 2025 a banner year in the fight against chronic local homelessness.

“In 2024, local stakeholders came together to form the Homeless Collective, a group of approximately 20 representatives from government, nonprofits, and neighborhoods,” Halladay-Schmandt said. “Over the past eight months, this collective has worked to develop strategies to eliminate the need for encampments like The Pines and to expand year-round shelter capacity.”

In early 2025, Halladay-Schmandt says the Homelessness Collective “will transition into a formal Taskforce to Address and End Homelessness,” which will unite “local government, service providers, philanthropy, and community members to create a comprehensive plan aimed at making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in our community.”

Meanwhile, Halladay-Schmandt notes that the Coalition has been pushing hard to increase local housing capacity for people experiencing homelessness.

“Since January 2024, Coalition partners have successfully housed more than 150 individuals in permanent housing, including 50 people who were experiencing chronic homelessness,” she said. Those efforts will continue in 2025, she added. “Goodwill Northern Michigan will continue managing supportive housing at East Bay Flats, ultimately adding 64 units of supportive housing to our community. And Northwest Michigan Supportive Housing will leverage a historic award from Grand Traverse County to expand permanent supportive housing services and rental assistance in our region.”

“These advancements demonstrate our community's commitment to solving homelessness through housing and collaboration,” Halladay-Schmandt concluded. “Together, we are building a future where everyone has a safe and stable place to call home.”

TCAPS Revisits Indoor Sports Complexes 

2024 proved to be a timeout for talks around bringing an indoor sports complex to Traverse City. 2025 could be game on.

For years, the Traverse Indoor Sports Coalition (TISC) has been looking for a way to build indoor sports facilities in Traverse City. The hope is to provide dedicated turf and courts for year-round tournaments, practices, and league play, both for students and community members. TISC, a collective of government, nonprofit, and business partners, has repeatedly touted the potential economic, tourism, and quality-of-life benefits these facilities could have for northern Michigan.

TISC had its biggest breakthrough yet in 2023. That year brought talks of a potential public-private between TISC and Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS), wherein the two entities would collaborate to build a pair of community fieldhouses on the campuses of Traverse City Central High School and West Senior High. Had TCAPS gone for the plan, the facilities could have opened as early as this year, with funding coming from a mix of private donations and TCAPS millage funds.

But TCAPS opted not to include the fieldhouses – which carry an estimated price tag of $10 million apiece – in the bond proposal it took to voters last summer. When asked why the complexes weren’t a priority, TCAPS Superintendent John VanWagoner told The Ticker last summer that district needs and focus group feedback showed that the bond proposal “really needed to be concentrated on keeping our kids safe, keeping our kids warm, and keeping our kids dry.”

Now, fresh off a successful $180 million bond proposal in August and a separate millage rate renewal in November, TCAPS is revisiting the sports complex conversation. VanWagoner says there is still “a lot of excitement” around the project in the TCAPS community, noting that the district has pulled together a group of stakeholders and philanthropy experts and is currently working on a feasibility study. That study will assess how TCAPS might approach the project “from a fundraising perspective.” VanWagoner expects the results could be ready to share with the public before the end of Q1 2025.

The main goal of the study is to determine whether TCAPS and TISC could raise funds for the fieldhouses without the school district having to push through another big bond.

“I think we’ve kind of reached our capacity already,” VanWagoner said of the bond situation, noting that it will likely be several years before the district goes back to voters with another big tax-related ask. “Because of that, I think the sports complex project is going to have to be something we look at from a state support angle. Frankenmuth, for instance, got $10 million from the state legislature in June to build a sports complex. I’ve been having some conversations with our local legislators about that, because kids downstate have these opportunities, but we don’t.”

Whether the sports complexes move forward in 2025 or take a little longer to come to fruition, VanWagoner is adamant that he and the current TCAPS Board of Education are eager to keep working on the project. The facilities, he says, are increasingly needed to support the thriving athletic and fitness programs at both Central and West.

“A lot of people tell us that we have a lack of gym space, especially in the wintertime,” VanWagoner explained. “We have kids in spring sports like baseball and softball, and we have nets come down from the ceiling in the gym so they can hit. We have soccer players doing indoor practices on a wood gym floor. We have football kids that drive to Saginaw Valley or Grand Rapids a couple days a week to participate in seven-on-seven indoor football, because we don’t have a league here. It would just make such a huge difference for our students if we had these complexes.”

Trump Tariffs and Potential Impacts on Local Manufacturing

One of the biggest questions for 2025 – not just in Traverse City, but nationwide – is what kind of impact sweeping tariffs proposed by President-Elect Donald Trump could have on the economy.

Both throughout his presidential campaign and following his victory over Democratic nominee Kamala Harris in November, Trump has touted aggressive tariff policies as one of his key strategies for pushing foreign countries to halt the flow of drugs and illegal immigrants into the United States.

In November, on the social media site Truth Social, Trump promised day-one action to “charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States.” Trump has also shared plans to charge an additional 10% tariff on any goods imported to the U.S. from China; that tariff would go on top of any existing tariffs on Chinese imports.

While inflation and high consumer prices were a widely-cited reason that on-the-fence voters cast their ballots for Trump in the November election, experts have warned that the president-elect’s new tariffs could hit American wallets hard. Per the Associated Press, Mexico, China, and Canada are America’s top three suppliers of import goods, with Mexico providing the majority of the country’s fresh fruits and vegetables. Canada, meanwhile, is the leading supplier of steel.

One of the big unknowns for Traverse City, in particular, is how Trump’s new tariffs will impact manufacturers. Northern Michigan is home to a vibrant manufacturing sector, with manufacturing accounting for some 17% of employment in Grand Traverse County, according to Traverse Connect. Forbes predicts that manufacturers – especially “downstream users of steel” – will be among the biggest losers of the proposed tariffs.

“They’ll have to decide whether to eat the cost, cutting into their margins, or pass it along to consumers,” wrote Forbes contributor Ethan Karp in January, pointing to metal machine shops, construction firms, and automakers as some examples of businesses that could take an especially mighty blow from new foreign trade policies.

One of northern Michigan’s big steel users is Hayes Manufacturing, which makes mechanical couplings for earthmoving and construction equipment, among other applications. When the Trump administration last unveiled big tariff hikes in 2018, Hayes CEO Penny Challender was vocal about the domino effect it would have on manufacturers like Hayes, the companies that rely on their products, and, ultimately, the end consumer.

This time around, Challender says it’s still too early to say what kind of effect the proposed tariffs could have.

“I don’t think we know enough about the situation yet to comment,” Challender told the TCBN in December. “Our raw material suppliers have not yet been able to provide information, so we can’t speak to the potential tariff impacts.”

Chris Bosio, international trade manager for the Michigan Economic Development Corporation concurs with Challender that it’s too soon to know what’s coming. Most manufacturers in Michigan, he said, are waiting for the Trump administration to take power and unveil its actual policies before hitting the panic switch.

“Most manufacturers have been dealing with big tariffs for Chinese goods for seven years,” Bosio said. “The Biden administration recently renewed and increased the previous Trump tariffs. I’d say I don’t have specific companies that I am actively working with that are concerned.”

Garfield Township's First-Ever Township Manager

Northern Michigan’s biggest township has a new leader, and 2025 will mark his first full calendar year in office. Last spring, Garfield trustees voted to downgrade the township supervisor job to a part-time role, and to create the new position of township manager.

The decision was predicated by the news that long-time Township Supervisor Chuck Korn would not seek reelection in 2024; Korn had served in the role since 2008. With no specific qualifications required to serve as supervisor over the fastest-growing municipality in Grand Traverse County, Korn told trustees he was worried that “at some point, you’re going to get somebody who’s unqualified and possibly has intentions that are not what you want.”

By creating the township manager role, Garfield trustees sought to assure that leadership of the municipality be put in the hands of a vetted staff member, rather than an elected official with potentially dubious qualifications. That decision kicked off a search process that drew a field of 43 applicants, three of whom trustees interviewed for the role. Finally, in September, the board voted unanimously to hire Chris Barsheff as the first-ever township manager of Garfield Township.

Prior to his hire, Barsheff had worked for the Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office since 1996, most recently as captain of the corrections division. He also served as a Garfield Township trustee at the time of his hire – though, he recused himself from the candidate selection and interview process – as well as a member of the Grand Traverse Metro Fire Board.

Since taking on the new job, Barsheff says he’s been working closely with new Township Supervisor Joe McManus – who took office after winning an uncontested race in the November election – to split up responsibilities and sketch out a new norm for township operations. 2025 will be a big year for finding that new groove.

“There are certain things that, by statute, the supervisor is required to do, but the law also gives the supervisor authority to delegate those duties to a superintendent or manager,” Barsheff explained. “By board action, roughly two-thirds of the supervisor’s statutory duties have been delegated to me, and the supervisor kept roughly a third.”

According to Barsheff, McManus will remain in charge of key supervisor responsibilities like moderating board meetings, calling special meetings, serving as secretary for the township’s board of review, administering oaths of office, appointing commission members or deputies as needed, and acting as the township’s legal agent.

The responsibilities that can be delegated to a township manager, meanwhile, are specified by Michigan law, and include things like ensuring “that all laws and township ordinances are enforced”; managing and supervising “all public improvements, works, and undertakings of the township”; preparing and administering the township’s annual budget; and overseeing the operations of all township departments, including the management of personnel.

Beyond the stability Garfield trustees were seeking when they created the township manager role, Barsheff sees the new structure as an effective way of taking the increasingly heavy load of supervisor responsibilities and splitting it between two people.

“What I’m learning is that the supervisor has to be out in the community as much as possible, so they can talk to community stakeholders and community partners, hear what's important to them, and then carry that out through the township’s services,” Barsheff said. “But if the supervisor is so busy in the community, it’s sometimes hard for them to get back to the office and also manage personnel and the operations here. Our township has gotten so large over the years, and more complex, too, and so it’s become a pretty overwhelming task to do all of that work as one person. With the way the township has split this job up, Supervisor McManus can be super present in the community, and then I can be here in the office to manage the day-to-day.”

Benzie Wellness and Aquatic Center Capital Campaign Launches

It will be a while before you can jump in the water, but the Benzie Wellness and Aquatic Center is making a splash. The center's board of directors moved last month to exercise its option to purchase the shuttered Crystal Lake Elementary School for $425,000 and renovate it.

With closing set for the end of this month, next is a $25 million capital campaign to renovate the facility. When done, it will include two pools, a fitness center, a gym for basketball and pickleball, two studios, a meeting room and locker rooms.

The project will be the culmination of eight years of work to bring an indoor pool to Benzie County to teach youngsters how to swim. Along the way, the idea grew into a larger scale operation that would enable people of all ages throughout the county and beyond to participate in other health and exercise-related activities.

“We formed a non-profit in 2017 and hired a consultant in 2019,” said Bill Kennis, board president. “What became clear almost immediately is if we just offered aquatics, it was not economically viable.”

So, they upped the game to include additional sports and recreational possibilities. Board Vice President Diane Tracy says the school is in a prime location, within walking distance of both Benzonia and Beulah, and seven miles down M-115 from Frankfort. The board estimates fundraising to take two to three years before breaking ground on the 18-month renovation.

Conservancy Purchases Elberta Property

The Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy’s potential purchase of 35 acres in the village of Elberta, scheduled for final approval late last month, will be a first for the organization.

“It is certainly different for us,” said Jennifer Jay, the conservancy’s communication director.

That’s largely because the property includes nine acres the village has always earmarked for economic and business development, with the remaining 26 acres of conservation value.

The $19.5 million purchase agreement includes 578 feet of Lake Michigan frontage, 3,125 feet of Betsie Bay shoreline, and 10 acres of steep, forested dunes. It actually fits with the conservancy’s overall vision.

The nine acres with access to municipal water and sewer will be set aside for redevelopment. The property was previously targeted for a large resort development before that offer was withdrawn, due in part to local opposition.

The conservancy will work to raise an additional $8 million to create a 10-acre nature sanctuary, a 16-acre public park, and an extension of the Betsie Valley Trail, connecting Frankfort and Elberta’s municipal Lake Michigan beaches. This segment would also link to 22 miles of scenic trails in Benzie County. Jay says the goal of a beach-to-beach trail couldn’t come to fruition otherwise.

“It would take away any public access people have been using for a long, long time,” she added.

Big Year Ahead for Freshwater Research & Innovation Center

In a lot of ways, 2024 was a “calm before the storm” year for the Traverse City Freshwater Research & Innovation Center. That project – a collaboration between Discovery Center & Pier, 20Fathoms, Michigan Technological University, Northwestern Michigan College (NMC), and Traverse Connect – will eventually put a multi-million-dollar blue economy headquarters on the shores of West Grand Traverse Bay. After percolating for several years  – the idea first took root in 2022 – the new freshwater center is set to have a big year in 2025, with a project groundbreaking date tentatively set for the fall.

Not that 2024 was completely quiet. The center will eventually span either side of the road at the site of Discovery Center & Pier, and Discovery Pier CEO Matt McDonough notes that construction is well underway on the pier side. That part of the project includes brand-new docks, a new parking area, and a three-ton crane for loading equipment onto research vessels. Work on the pier itself should be complete by May 2025.

Also in 2024, NMC and Discovery Pier inked articles of incorporation to formalize the operating structure for the freshwater center, and the partners made key hires for architectural design (Cornerstone Architects) and construction management (the Christman Company).

"We're pretty much done with all of the design work and value engineering work, and we're now into construction drawings,” McDonough said.

The goal there is to have everything packaged and ready to go out for bid by March.

The partners also put out a request-for-proposals this fall in search of a partner to lead the visioning and development for a public-facing space that will exist within the freshwater center.

“There's going be about 3,000 square feet of public interface and exhibit space, where the public will have access to different freshwater technologies,” McDonough said of that side of the project. “We’re going to put this stuff on display in an interactive sense, so that people can get an understanding of what it is and why it's important.”

Partners plan to select and hire that entity early in 2025.

One piece of bad news, McDonough admits, is that the center is going to cost significantly more than originally planned.

“That's one of the unavoidable circumstances of doing big projects nowadays,” he explained. “When we were awarded the $15 million (by the state) back a year and a half ago, the cost estimate on the facility was $26 million. But that has now gone up to about $33 million. We've raised about $25.5 million. We've got a lot of requests out right now for funding, and are continuing to fundraise.

"So, there’s a bit of a gap to close, but we’re working hard to do it.”

Right now, McDonough says the plan is to break ground on the center in November, though construction may begin earlier if current Discovery Pier tenants can vacate their premises earlier than their “hard deadline” of November 1. Those tenants include the Maritime Heritage Alliance, Inland Seas Education Association, and Traverse Area Community Sailing. Another tenant, the Great Lakes Children’s Museum, already left its spot, trading Discovery Pier for a temporary location at the Grand Traverse Mall this past fall.

With a buildout timeline of 15-18 months, locals shouldn’t expect the freshwater center to be open or operational until spring 2027. Even with that long lead time, leaders from NMC, Traverse Connect, and 20Fathoms are already hard at work looking for the tenants who will one day call the space home. In addition to classroom and lab space for NMC’s Great Lakes Water Studies Institute and the aforementioned public exhibit area, the freshwater center will offer business incubation and research space for startups and enterprises operating within the blue technology sector.

On that front, Jason Slade, NMC’s vice president for strategic initiatives, says the college is launching a new competition called the Blue Tech Challenge this coming spring.

“We're going to be looking for startups and individuals with ideas around blue technology that can start to fill that pipeline to the center,” Slade said. “Even though the center isn’t going to be open until 2027, we know we need to start building up those potential businesses in the region.”

Winners of that contest will be unveiled in September at the OCEANS 2025 conference, described as an event “for global maritime professionals to learn, innovate, and lead in the protection and utilization of the world’s largest natural resource – our OCEANS.” That conference is coming to Chicago in 2025 – the first time it’s ever been held in the Great Lakes region, Slade says – and NMC plans to “a large presence there.”

“It will give us a big opportunity to promote the freshwater center, because that's where we're going to see researchers, potential startups, and others all in one spot,” he said.

Train Project Chugs Along

Since the idea was first floated six years ago, the concept of a passenger railway connecting Ann Arbor and Traverse City has attracted considerable attention. While much of the early reaction was (and remains) positive, some are starting to question if the project will ever break ground.

Those leading this initiative say that not only is it very much alive, but that it took a huge step recently with the hiring of a consultant for a phase two study that will in essence deliver a business plan for what is for now called Michigan’s North-South Passenger Rail Project (while initial messaging focused on Ann Arbor, project leaders are now not entirely sure where the southern terminus of the service will be, with Detroit also a possibility).

Carolyn Ulstad, transportation program manager for Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities, said 2025 will be a big year for the project. The consultant (WSP, a national firm) expected to deliver results from the phase two study by the end of the year.

The north-south rail idea began with a feasibility study published in 2018 by Groundwork, which is now a lead partner in the project along with the Cadillac/Wexford Transit Authority and various state and federal agencies.

According to that feasibility study, establishing upstate-to-downstate rail service has the potential to attract 1.5 million riders and generate $100 million in revenue by 2040. The phase two study is designed to take the project from concept to working reality. When the phase 2 study is complete, it should deliver all the working specifics of the project.  

“It's going to answer a lot of the questions that we’re eager to answer, and that we know the public is interested in, too,” said James Bruckbauer, transportation and community design program director at Groundwork. “How fast are the trains going to go? How much is it going to cost? Where are the stops going to be located? Should it be a private operation, or public? It's going to look at all of those details.”

There is $2.3 million secured in state and federal funding allocated to the phase two study, Ulstad and Bruckbauer say. But major funding sources beyond that will, of course, be vital for an initiative that would cost tens of millions of dollars to bring to life.

The completed phase two study will in itself unlock state and federal funding sources that require applicants to have a detailed, specific plan before applying for money.

“Having that service development plan, all those components that we're doing in this next phase, is essentially what gets you to the level that you can start then applying more aggressively and competitively for those other grant dollars,” Ulstad said.

Kalkaska Memorial Health Center Gains Flexibility

Kalkaska’s largest hospital will transition this year from a municipally owned entity to a nonprofit, a structural move that hospital leaders say will give it a better chance to remain independent and thriving well into the future.

While Kalkaska Memorial Health Center (KMHC) is an affiliate of Munson, it has been since its inception in 1953 owned and operated by an authority comprised of local governments, something prescribed in the 1945 law under which the hospital was created. But that arrangement is increasingly restrictive, hospital leaders say, particularly as it relates to joint ventures with other hospitals.

Kalkaska County voters in November resoundingly approved ending that arrangement, which paves the way for KMHC to form a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to manage hospital operations. KMHC administrator and CEO Kevin Rogols say hospital leadership will now spend the next six to nine months forming the nonprofit, being careful to include representation from the various municipalities that previously ran the hospital authority.

Rogols says the move was not intended to clear the way for a buyout by another hospital system or end KMHC’s relationship with Munson. Instead, it now frees up KMHC to enter into relationships with other hospital systems for a variety of services that make sense from a business perspective, something that may be critical for long-term viability.

“This actually solidifies our ability to remain an independent healthcare provider,” he said. “If the horizon is remaining as a strong, independent healthcare entity, that horizon was very limited and fairly short under the municipal framework. (Becoming) a modern non-for-profit and having the ability to do joint ventures exponentially lengthens that independent horizon.”

There were no specific initiatives or joint measures on the table that led to the decision to break free from the municipal system, Rogols says, and hospital officials have repeatedly dispelled notions that the move means KMHC will soon be sold.

As for its relationship with Munson, Rogols says the move will make KMHC more of a level partner with Munson rather than a mere customer.

“In future years, rather than KMHC just buying services from Munson, we hope that you're going to see services that are jointly developed,” he said. “You're going to see new relationships, expanded relationships in which both parties, Munson and KMHC, actually have skin in the game.”

In other developments, KMHC will soon be on the look for a new leader, as Rogols is retiring in April after 11 years there and more than 40 years in hospital administration.

An Exciting Year for Elk Rapids

Elk Rapids is gearing up for an action-packed 2025, with several infrastructure improvements and business initiatives on deck.

The Antrim County village has long been a special spot for residents and visitors alike, but leaders there want to make it more attractive, walkable and easy to navigate in all four seasons.

First off, more improvements to the Ames Street corridor are scheduled this year. Work across all phases of the project includes sidewalk connectivity, pedestrian safety upgrades, traffic calming measures, new trees and greenery, bike lanes, new lighting and more.

Elk Rapids DDA Director John Mach says all of this work is intended to bring a sense of place and vibrancy to the Ames Street corridor, which sits across U.S. 31 from downtown and might seem like an afterthought when compared to the village center.

“I think that we're going to be adding somewhere along the lines of five or six pedestrian crossways, so that is just going to make it a lot easier for mobility,” Mach said. "And one of our big (goals) is really to create more interconnectedness between Ames Street and the traditional downtown or River Street, which is hard to do when you have a highway passing right through.”

Along those lines, the village will also launch a project to update and upgrade its signs throughout the village. This wayfinding effort will not only help people find their way around, but it will also help direct people off of the busy highway and into Elk Rapids in the first place, Mach says.

The village/DDA also landed a Community Economic Development Association of Michigan (CEDAM) fellow from now through April 2026, which will allow the village to pursue a variety of business incentives and initiatives.

“The CEDAM fellow will help build capacity to take on additional projects including developing an economic plan, creating business incentives, and collaborating on launching a business incubator to promote local growth,” Mach said.

Last but not least, improvements at the village marina (Edward C. Grace Memorial Harbor) are scheduled to kick off this year. Harbormaster Mike Singleton says public visioning sessions conducted over the last year have led to a plan to (among other things) improve walkability of docks along the river and upgrade lighting, which will happen in 2025.

Meanwhile, an engineering firm is in the process of drawing up plans for much more substantial upgrades to the harbor itself, which could include a realigned breakwall to combat sand accumulation at the harbor’s entrance and the potential for new boat slips, Singleton said.  

Healthcare in the Sky

Munson Medical Center, Traverse Connect and additional partners will begin tests this spring to determine whether drone delivery of lab samples, medical equipment, medicine and more is viable in northern Michigan.

A nearly $700,000 grant from the state’s Advanced Aerial Mobility (AAM) Activation Fund is funding the initiative as part of broader efforts to “accelerate AAM readiness and growth in the state” by (among other things) better utilizing drone technology.

Munson Healthcare VP of Supply Chain Tracy Cleveland says the goal of the local drone project is mitigating “inefficiencies in Munson's current road-based transportation system.” Cleveland says the hospital system is “looking to address key logistical issues within rural healthcare, specifically access and health inequities because of the nature of our rural, geographically dispersed system.”

Cleveland adds that the prospect of giving patients quicker access to care and cutting back on the environmental impact of tens of thousands of vehicle miles every year is “incredibly exciting.”

There’s a long way to go before such a project becomes a reality, and testing is the first phase. Cleveland says the project group is taking a “crawl, walk, run” approach. Crawling starts this spring, when they test drones for relatively short distance, line-of-sight deliveries.

“We’ll first start with water bottles and fly them from point A to point B and back, and do that multiple times to make sure that the methodology and the weight and everything lines up for the use of drones in that space,” he said. “But once you've done it with water bottles, you can do it with laboratory samples, pharmaceuticals, small equipment or a supply that might be critical but that’s not available in a particular hospital.”

The project group – which also includes drone manufacturer blueflite, delivery service DroneUp and others – hopes to apply for additional funding and clearances later in this year for additional trials.

“If we get all the right waivers, we would want to do a second round of testing that would take us beyond visible line of sight,” Cleveland said. “So then you're talking about probably a 20-mile radius from the medical center. Within the grant that we're working with right now, we would like to do phase one, visible line of sight, and a phase two would be beyond visible line of sight.”