News

Data That We Track, November 2016

Every month we look at data that helps drive future strategies for the regions and businesses we serve. This blog series will provide you an opportunity to view this data to see how the counties in our territory fare, as well as an update on our activities and efforts put forth to help strengthen local economies. As we provide you with the first update of 2017, we’d like to wish you Happy New Year!

New Data and New Information

Jobless rates fell nationally, rose in Michigan, and stayed the same in Wisconsin during the last reporting which was November 2016. Four of our 51 counties saw their rates decline, two remained the same as October, and 45 saw their rates go up.

View the November 2016 Data Sheet Here (Adobe PDF File)

How NI fared through November

We continue to track toward our best performance ever. It appears that our loan volume will be up around 25% over our best year and our knowledge building reach will be up 33% over our best year.

A recent addition to our portfolio was the Zephyr Wine Bar in downtown Marquette. Whether you know a lot about wine or whether you see yourself as discerning but with a limited memory for names of wines (like several of us here at Northern Initiatives!), Zephyr is perfect. Owner Daniel Rutz and his entire team are extremely knowledgeable in selecting a wine that matches your preferences. Along with the wine, the small plates and desserts are wonderful.

Daniel had been fine tuning this idea for about five years, and now that it has come to life, it is a perfect venue for conversation and enjoyment. We at Northern Initiatives like it so much that to celebrate our milestone of $5M in loans, our staff held a celebration there last month. Zephyr did not disappoint with food or libations!