MORE NATIONAL EXPOSURE for Marquette. And it’s especially huge for the mountain biking community.
Bike Magazine, with more than one and a half million readers (print and online), arrives here October 9th for a 16 day stay while they test the latest bikes and biking equipment on the trails of Marquette County.
It’s something they do every year for a special edition they call the Bike Bible. It’s eagerly anticipated by avid bikers. The entire magazine, to be published next March, will be devoted to their visit here.
All told, Bike Magazine will send a contingent of about 15 people–professional riders, journalists, photographers, and videographers.
They’ll be staying at Staybridge Suites and while they’re here, they’ll be sampling the culinary offerings of more than a dozen local restaurants.
It’s another big coup for Travel Marquette. Not as big, maybe, as the spread on Marquette in Delta Sky Magazine last December and the upcoming edition on the entire U.P., but it’ll target a growing and much desired demographic sector–mostly young males who are willing to travel and have some discretionary cash.
Average household income of Bike Magazine’s readers: more than $100,000.
Travel Marquette’s Recreation Director Candy Kozeluh will be guiding the bikers on the trails while PR and Events Coordinator Anna Dravland will be making sure they’re all comfortable and well-fed during their extended stay in Marquette.
COULD THE NURSES’ walkout at UP Health System-Marquette scheduled for October 5th and 6th be averted?
“Things could happen,” says Scott Balko, the local nurses’ union president. “But there’s a lot to bridge. We’re pretty far apart.”
The promising news is that federal mediator Don Maki is now involved. He attended his first meeting with both parties earlier this week to get an update on where things stood. The second session comes later today (Thursday). There are two more negotiating sessions set before the two day strike is scheduled to take place.
“We’re hoping that with a mediator, we’ll finally have real discussions,” says Balko. “All we’ve been doing so far is pushing papers back and forth across the table.”
So what’s going to happen if the hospital’s 400 nurses do walk out for two days?
UP Health System says it’s prepared. “We are currently securing fully qualified, temporary nursing staff to replace those who go on strike, with the assistance of of a nationally respected staffing agency,” marketing directory Victor Harrington explains.
The union says they’ve the seen flyers being distributed that offer temporary nurses $70 an hour to fill in during the walkout. Hefty wages, along with travel costs and hotel accommodations.
That’s not likely to promote good relations with the nurses out walking the picket lines.
On the other hand, a hospital has to continue to take care of its patients.
A sad situation all around. And it could get ugly.
YOU GOTTA FEEL for ABC 10.
News director Jerry Taylor has given notice. His last day of work is October 6th. He’s transitioning to Fox Negaunee where he’ll be selling cars and trucks instead of delivering the news.
“It’s just the right time,” he says. “I’ve gotten married, and with the hours and the pay, it (working in TV) just doesn’t add up. Don’t get me wrong–I love working here but it’s just time to do something else.”
Alyssa Lambert, who’s been with the station for only a few months, will be the interim news director. All this comes after three other reporters also gave notice recently.
You don’t get rich working in small market television news. If you stick around for a decade or more at the UP’s Goliath, TV 6, you might get comfortable, but that’s about it.
At the other stations, after a couple of years, you’re likely to start looking around for another market, or another profession.
“I JUST WALK into the stores and tell them I’ve made a new barbecue sauce and I ask them if they want to order it,” entrepreneur Teresa Mauldin of Suomi tells us. “And, I’ll tell you, not many of them have said ‘No.'”
She’s got quite a story about a modest family business that’s about to expand.
She and her children have been producing and distributing Red’z Bulgogi BBQ Marinade for a year now. Until now, it’s just been one flavor–a Korean-inspired sauce, using soy rather than tomato as a base. She got the idea from a Korean friend in North Carolina 30 years ago.
“A little bit of heat, a little bit of sweet,” she says.
But soon she’ll be offering five more flavors, including organic and gluten-free. The demand is there, she says.
She and her family prepare the sauces at the kitchen formerly occupied by Steinhaus Market and Union Grill.
It’s now in 127 stores in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, with more distributors coming on line. Mauldin and her family produce about 500 jars of it every week.
But that’ll be ramping up in the weeks ahead with the introduction of the new sauces.
Accelerate UP helped her get the business started but now Teresa has taken the ball and is running with it. Hard.
A good idea, with a ton of energy and determination, is sometimes all you need.
You got news? Email me at briancabell@gmail.com
,