Twenty-five years ago I was among a group of people, some of whom are still in the field who went to the White House for the signing of the Community…

  Communities We Serve   Summer finally arrived..........   What would have been expected for the summer months finally showed in the August numbers. Every county in our service area…

Recently, I heard an NPR story about correspondent Jacki Lyden’s hometown, of Delafield, Wisconsin.  She talked about her memories of that place and particularly the Church that was built in…

Typically, local sourcing is defined as procuring consumable goods within a short radius of where they will be used. For example, Torti Taco, in Battle Creek, Michigan, uses local growers…

It was about 22 years ago that Kayla and I settled into our lives in Marquette.  I have many stories in that first year about the adjustments and surprises associated…

  Communities We Serve   An Unusual Spike   A review of the July numbers gives the impression that something was off. Five of the 78 counties saw a decrease…

  Communities We Serve   A quick glance at the data says....... Summer tourism and agriculture have made their way into the numbers of the north.  Most every rural county…

  Communities We Serve   Jobless Rates Continue to Rise…… The June numbers were surprising in that 73 of the 78 counties Northern Initiatives serves saw a rise in jobless…

There is something we strive to achieve in our work at Northern Initiatives and that is customer intimacy.  What does that mean?  It means that we value having a relationship…

  Communities We Serve   Latest Data Trends Indicate....... Spring and summer in Michigan bring a wave of seasonal employees, resulting in lower jobless rates in April in all but four rural counties with…