Alliance Continues Advocacy  

The Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance (NMCA) is a coalition of chambers & economic development organizations from Alpena, Benzie, Cadillac, Charlevoix, Gaylord, Petoskey, Traverse City, Manistee, Marquette, Elk Rapids, Harbor Springs, Boyne, East Jordan, Cheboygan, Sault Area, and Leelanau. This past week the NMCA had their monthly meeting with a focus on the COVID-19 crisis. In order to support all businesses during this time of need, the NMCA opened its meeting to all northern Michigan economic development organizations and chambers and welcomed several guests to the meeting.

The NMCA hosted legislators and staff representatives and used an interactive Q&A to pose questions about future funding opportunities and regulatory reform important to our business community. On the call were Congressman Jack Bergman, Congressman John Moolenaar, Sen. Wayne Schmidt, Sen. Curt VanderWall,  Sen. Ed McBroom, Rep. Jack O’Malley, Rep. Sue Allor, Rep. Triston Cole, Rep. Sara Cambensy, and staff representatives for U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and Sen. Jim Stamas.

Also in attendance was Director Jeff Donofrio from the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity to discuss unemployment, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to share further details about the CARES Act, and New Directions to share information on mental health resources available to the public during the crisis.