MML CEO and Executive Director Dan Gilmartin was opening keynote speaker at the second annual Northern Michigan Placemaking Summit. Gilmartin spoke on the same day in Traverse City and Petoskey.  

The summit, hosted by the Grand Vision, Michigan Land Use Institute and Northwest Michigan Council of Governments, and co-sponsored by the League, brought together over 100 persons at both locations to hear about projects and activities taking place in the region around place-making. Breakout sessions included discussions on art and culture, downtowns, recreation, walkability and investment.

In his remarks, Gilmartin applauded the work of those in the region, noting that folks understand the need to be moving regional assets together for economic prosperity and that projects are being done at the local level by local people.

The summit once again showed that through the Grand Vision, this region of our state has perhaps the best example of a place and asset based regional economic development strategy that fits right in line with the League's work through the "Center for 21st Century Communities"

To learn more about what's going on view this video.

Arnold Weinfeld is Director of Strategic Initiatives and Federal Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at 517-908-0304 or by e-mail.

Please Note: Due to unforeseen circumstances, this event has been cancelled and will be rescheduled at a later date.

GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan - Michigan Municipal League CEO & Executive Director Dan Gilmartin will give the keynote address during the 3rd Annual Public/Private/Partnership (P3) Conference in Grand Rapids April 19. The event, taking place at DeVos Place in downtown Grand Rapids, is jointly sponsored by the Urban Land Institute of Michigan and the Michigan Municipal League.

The past two conferences in Rochester and Lansing have been overwhelming successes and attracted more than 450 of the state's leading real estate developers, investors, public officials, academics and professional service provider. Gilmartin will give the keynote address and discuss how to balance community wants with market realities.

"It's more important now than ever before that seemingly disparate groups find common ground to build communities that attract our young leaders to live, work, shop and play in Michigan."

Additionally, the ULI will bring buyers and sellers together for Deal Making opportunities where municipalities, schools and nonprofits can unveil their surplus properties and market to prospective investors at Deal Making tables.

Non-members of ULI can save $100 off membership when they register for this event at michigan.uli.org. For registration and sponsorship information, please contact ULI Coordinator, Shannon Sclafani at ssclafani@uli.org or (248) 807-1600. Click here for more details on registering for the event.

Matt Bach is director of communications for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at (734) 669-6317 and mbach@mml.org.

The Sustainabile Cities Institute (SCI) is now a part of the National League of Cities Center for Research and Innovation.

The SCI provides cities with resources, strategies and tools to help identify and implement solutions to advance sustainability goals and strengthen their communities. 

Among other items, the site contains city profiles, case studies, model policies and communication tools.

The SCI was created in 2009 as a online platform of sustainability resources. Originally started by The Home Depot Foundation, the NLC Sustainability Program, operating within the Center for Research and Innovation was chosen to continue its work.

Arnold Weinfeld is Director of Strategic Initiatives and Federal Affairs for the Michigan Municipal League. He can be reached at 517-908-0304 or by e-mail.

The City of Farmington Hills and Eastern Michigan University recently hosted a conference to discuss the creation of a community arts certification program, which would formally certify students who wish to pursue a career in administering cultural art programs.  The League was invited, along with the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs, America for the Arts, Mercedes Benz and the Kresge Foundation, to participate on a panel to discuss the economic and social reasons for supporting the arts .  A certification program would not only better prepare an inidividual to administer arts and culural programs in a community, but it would demonstrate and elevate the importance of arts as an economic development strategy.  With a passionate group of attendees representing all walks of the arts, there was little debate about its economic importance and contribution to the vibrancy of communities.  Following the conference, a committee met to start working out the details for the program.

It’s important that we continue to have discussions around arts and culture as a crucial economic development tool.  The League’s Center for 21^st Century Communities has identified arts and culture as one of 8 key assets, which are critical to creating and maintaining vibrant communities and regions, attracting talent and providing a quality of life.  Numbers don’t lie.  Michigan depends on the creative state of our economy.  Learn more about the impact here.  For every $1 Michigan invests in arts and culture, $51 is pumped back into the state’s economy!  We can’t afford NOT to support arts and culture.   After a decade of unprecedented cuts, (over a 90% decrease from 2002-2010), the cultural arts is finally seeing a rebound.

Stay tuned for further updates on the arts certification program! 

Colleen Layton is Director of Policy Development for the Michigan Municipal League.  She can be reached at 734-69-6320 or at clayton@mml.org