A Saturday night fireworks program considered for next summer received the support of the St. Ignace Downtown Development Authority (DDA), which made a financial pledge of $5,000 Friday, October 10. At the same meeting, DDA members learned a proposed downtown transportation museum and improvements to American Legion Park did not receive soughtafter financial support. The DDA also is moving forward with plans to host workshops for visitor relations training this spring.

"People need to understand that the community is the product, not just their individual business or service," said Michelle Walk, director of the Michigan State University Extension in Mackinac County, speaking of employee training programs. "It's about what you do at your business as well as what you do when you are in the community and how welcome people feel to the community, and not just individual businesses." Ms. Walk has previously conducted employee training in the Upper Peninsula and Northern Lower Peninsula.

"It's sad to me to say that the lowest participation rate has been, by far, in St. Ignace," she said of attendance at the previous training sessions.

The workshops are not about pointing out what is wrong, but about competing in the current economic conditions, she said. The community needs to consider potential adjustments that could be made to support tourism and to better attract visitors when they are making travel decisions, she said.

As part of the effort, tip sheets to help businesses will be distributed and shortened online training workshops that employers can access any time are planned for new employees or for those who cannot attend the workshops.

Customer service training has been helpful at the city marina, said Gene Elmer, DDA chair, who also is the marina director. Visitor training, along with technical instruction, is given to the city marina crew every two years.

"You can tell the difference in our staff," he said, "because dozens of times every summer I have boaters come up to me and say, 'We travel all over Michigan and we've never been treated as friendly as in St. Ignace.'"

Over the winter, a directory will be prepared for businesses that will tell what services are available and where visitors might find specific items, said Ms. Walk. The directory will serve as a guide to help employees answer questions from visitors.

The Small Business Development Center provides free business counseling six times a year.

Fireworks

To help stimulate the economy, the board supported a 20-minute fireworks displays each Saturday night from the Fourth of July through Labor Day. The DDA will donate $5,000 to the program, a suggestion of the Special Events Committee. DDA Director Deb Evashevski said events preceding to the fireworks will also be planned.

"We have a lot of businesses hanging on by fingernails," said Mr. Elmer. "If something isn't done, you're going to see vacancies all over St. Ignace."

Mrs. Evashevski said a plan to build a district Transportation Museum downtown has been shelved for lack of state funding. Gas tax revenues have fallen because of the drop in travel. Now, she said, a push is underway to reestablish a museum at the Father Marquette National Memorial on Boulevard Drive, which is in Moran Township. The museum there was destroyed by lightning in 2000. The state-owned facility was not insured and was never rebuilt.

For the proposed downtown transportation museum, the DDA was considering the Mulcrone building on McCann Street. It has about $600,000, enough to buy the building, but not enough to establish a museum, said Mrs. Evashevski.

Hopes to upgrade American Legion Park have also been dashed. A $60,000 matching grant to provide swings, a new brick walkway, and other improvements was denied to Housing Opportunities Made Equal (HOME) of Mackinac County. The grant was available to improve neighborhood parks, but HOME was told the American Legion Park was not within the neighborhood setting grand administrators had envisioned, said Mrs. Evashevski.

The DDA approved $18,000 to replace all of the low-level pathway lights at the park. Funds will come from the maintenance account, which has a balance of about $70,000, and bids will be sought for installation. A $3,000 insurance claim also will be filed to replace seven lights damaged by vandalism this summer. New lights will match those leading to the lighthouse at the end of the Railroad Dock.

The board is considering the purchase of six canvas covers for some of the 17 pedestrian directional signs that were placed around town in August. The covers would protect the20signs from damage from winter snowplowing. A decision is expected at the November meeting. The covers would cost $1,012.50.

The DDA next meets Friday, November 14, at 8 a.m. in council chambers in city hall.