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January 2000

State Roundups
Upper Peninsula

Airport moves out, casino moves in

Provided all the necessary state and federal approvals are given, people will soon be hearing the steady buzz of slot machines instead of airplane propellers.

The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and a developer recently purchased the Marquette County Airport from the county for $1.8 million. The tribe purchased 100 acres and the former terminal, which along with the maintenance building, will be converted to a casino.

The developer in the transaction holds almost 600 acres, and is proposing a hotel, new homes, a light industrial park and recreation to complement the casino, according to local reports. Rather than starting up a new venture, the tribe is hoping to move its existing Ojibwa II Casino from Chocolay Township, where its operation has been a point of legal contention for several years.

Before the casino can open, the land purchased by the tribe must first be placed into trust, for which the tribe has applied. Once approved, it must then receive state approval to operate a casino.

Hunting for buck$

You might not think of deer as economic development, but a new report from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that the Upper Peninsula reaps a windfall of $250 million annually from hunting.

Although U.P. hunters registered less than 10 percent (56,000) of the 600,000 deer taken in Michigan in 1998, hunters are spending hundreds of dollars on lodging, transportation, food and other hunting-related items.

Big fish in little (city) pond turns to little fish in big (bank) pond

In a move typical of the fast-consolidating banking industry, the Upper Peninsula's biggest bank has been sold to one of the nation's biggest banks.

Wells Fargo purchased Michigan Financial Corp. for $210 million, which will be transacted through a swap of each company's shares. Wells Fargo will issue roughly four and a half million shares in assuming full ownership of Michigan Financial stock.