Mackinac Development Corporation

Viability Lab is launching the Mackinac Development Corporation to reverse disinvestment in St. Ignace by introducing innovative governance, public-private partnerships, and strategic asset management to drive economic growth and revitalization.

To encourage reverse disinvestment & innovative governance, Viability Lab will launch the Mackinac Development Corporation. A significant outcome will be to reverse the fact that there has been no new commercial development in over 10 years in St. Ignace, the County Seat. New local governing tools, structures and public/private partnerships, common in more metropolitan areas, can be utilized to counteract the severe lack of local government capacity to plan, finance, and execute needed economic and community development.

One key innovation is the transition to strategic public development and management of assets which would normally be privately owned, such as buildings leased to a business. This concept is promoted by the Asset-Based Community Development Institute at DePaul University, mirroring traditional Sault Tribe community asset beliefs and recently integrated into the Mackinac Island Transportation Authority Strategic Plan in Mackinac County. Further, the federal Economic Development Administration confirms rural communities may utilize an expanded classification of such public infrastructure to drive economic and community development. Measurable outcomes include new commercial starts; growth in total taxable value; and Opportunity Zone total investment.

An Innovation Center concept is also proposed as an outgrowth of several technological solutions and new business models which form the cornerstone of the Mackinac Economic Alliance Strategic Plan. The plan was recently adopted following research and development funded by a $70,000 feasibility study grant received from the federal Native American Business Development Institute in partnership with the local Sault Tribe in early 2021.