What's happening: The city of Houghton has been named the 2024 winner of the Michigan Municipal League’s Community Excellence Award (CEA), announced during the closing session of this year’s MML Convention on Mackinac Island. Houghton won the award for its downtown and waterfront placemaking project called Connecting Houghton. The city competed against other nominees, including Brighton, Grandville, and Oak Park. The Connecting Houghton project marks the second time a U.P. community has won the award since the CEA was founded in 2007. The first U.P. award winner was the Ironwood in 2013.
Growing U.P. representation: U.P. residents are finding their way onto more state boards and organizations. In the Michigan Municipal League, a statewide association representing more than 500 municipal governments, Sault Ste Marie’s Don Gerrie serves as vice president and L’anse Village Manager Robert La Fave serves as a trustee. Munising City Manager Devin Olson serves as a director on the Michigan Municipal Executives and multiple business leaders serve in various leadership roles producing best practices guidelines for private organizations, authorities and government-created boards.
What they're saying: “We wanted to celebrate and show what we as a community did to bring people together and create spaces for them on a limited budget, and how even the simplest things can make a difference — and show other communities that they can do it too,” said Houghton City Manager Eric Waara. “Our story is about what small groups of people can accomplish after those large infrastructure investments are made and what that can do for your community.”
What's next: The city of Houghton will enjoy increased cultural and infrastructural improvements connecting the downtown and waterfront areas, providing a shining example of what it means to promote Upper Peninsula communities to visitors and residents alike.
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.