Mackinac County has the dubious distinction of leading Michigan with an unemployment rate of 23.3 percent for February. Lacking economic momentum, Michigan’s unemployment rate is 7.5 percent for the same period, the highest in the country. Those dismal statistics are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics and although the unemployment figure for the county will drop to almost the lowest in the country during the summer months, an average of two percent, according to Jim Rhein of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth, the figures show the need for economic development that would provide for year-around employment in the county.

With that in mind, County Commissioner Joe Durm thought it a good idea to make economic development the focus of this year’s Mackinac County inter-governmental Networking Forum.

The forum is hosted by the Mackinac County Board of Commissioners. Mr. Durm, along with Michelle Walk, director or the Michigan State University Extension office and chair of the county’s Economic Development Corporation, are organizing the one-day, by-invitation-only, county-wide event.

More than 350 county, township, and agency officials will get an invitation to attend the fourth annual forum Wednesday, May 11. The event will serve as a vehicle to share ideas and discuss current issues facing the county.

The forum will include a brief presentation by Ms. Walk on economic development services available from the MSU Extension program. Also, she and John Amrhein, state and local government educator with the MSU Extension office in Wexford County, will facilitate a discussion with attendees on ambulance service, a county-wide building inspector, and waste management and recycling. Discussion also will cover the county’s economic strengths and weaknesses and how the groups can work together.

Ms. Walk said the program will provide an opportunity for county and township officials to learn about and work together on county-wide services.

“The event is a great opportunity for townships, especially with so many newly elected officials, to learn what other townships are involved in, as well as who is leading those efforts,” said Ms. Walk.

The difficulty with communication among townships in Mackinac County is that the county is so spread out, she said. “I can travel from Lake Huron to Lake Superior in just over a half-hour, but it takes around two hours to go from one end of the county to the other,” she said. Mackinac County is about 135 miles long.

“The distance makes providing county services and sharing that information a real challenge,” she said.

“We certainly are encouraging all involved in Mackinac County government to come,” said Mr. Durm.

State Representative Gary McDowell (D-Rudyard) and State Senator Jason Allen (R-Traverse City) have been invited to attend the four-hour forum, which is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at the Little Bear East Arena Conference Center in St. Ignace.