One of the joys of 2020 has been driving my mom around. She is 85 and since the weather turned warm enough, I have been taking her on long drives on Old Mission Peninsula and throughout Leelanau Country in vintage cars with broad bench seats...
I have the honor of owning a 1915 Ford Model T that was delivered new that year to its first owner in Traverse City. It is painted black (the only color Ford offered back then) and it has the last of the brass radiators that...
We live in a special place – I think we all know that. I think we also know that to ensure a flourishing future our regional economy needs to remain strong and become more resilient. To me this means less seasonal dependency, more diversified industries,...
At Hagerty, we have a corporate social responsibility (CSR) program, as most corporations do. I’ve never cared for the term. It sounds cold and stiff, almost as if giving back is a moral obligation or something done out of guilt. For this reason, I don’t even...
Thanks to accelerators and investors like Boomerang Catapult and 20Fathoms, a lot of cool companies are being born in Traverse City – from names you’ve heard before like Atlas Space Operations and Promethient to SampleServ, a new environmental software company that helps geologists graph and...
Few have noticed it but we’re experiencing a massive changing of the guard in Traverse City. Leslie Eckert from Raleigh, North Carolina, will lead Northwestern Michigan College’s wonderful Great Lakes Culinary Institute. Leila Hilal is the new director of the college’s equally wonderful International Affairs...
The start of June is always a magical moment here in the great “Up North.” The cherries are ripening and the lakes are finally just warm enough to look at without dread. Another fantastic summer is upon us, and I, for one, can’t wait. It was...
These are times of incredible change in the world and many of these changes are happening at an exponential rate. For some, that’s a good thing because they view change as an exciting opportunity. For many of us, though, change can bring feelings of uncertainty and...
Did you know that cities compete for business? And did you know that the competition is often fierce? For an example, look no further than the frenzied competition among the nation’s biggest cities to land Amazon’s HQ2. Or do you just think, “The Traverse City area is...
Last year, I spoke to the Front Street Irregulars, a group of local men and women who run many of the most successful companies in the region. Among their goals is improving the business climate so more high-value businesses can succeed and scale here. They...
