EAST TAWAS – The Tawas Area Chamber of Commerce (TACC) invited District 99 Representative Mike Hoadley (R) to tour the local area this past Friday, to offer him deeper insight into the communities of Tawas City and East Tawas, and what is important to those who reside there.
A Flint native, Hoadley was in his first term as Mayor of AuGres when he was elected to the state’s House of Representatives in the November 2022 election. A business owner and Army veteran, Hoadley’s experience includes that of AuGres City Council member; member of both AuGres Planning Commission and Tax Increment Finance Authority; chair of the Arenac County Planning Commission; and serving on the Arenac County Soldiers and Sailors Board. He also helped organize the Stimulate Our AuGres Restaurants during the pandemic.
The chamber chose to share businesses on the tour that highlight a specific component of the Tawas area, which included the unique community cooperative space – the Community Hub – followed by a tour of the Northern Michigan Children’s Assessment Center (NMCAC) in Tawas City.
The NMCAC is a nonprofit founded by Rebecca Yuncker, which offers professional services to children who have experienced trauma.
Once Hoadley had visited the center, TACC Executive Director Samantha Duvall led the tour back to the Chamber building in downtown East Tawas, for the portion of the event which also included several businesses that have been handed down through the generations – O’Connor’s on Newman Street and Tawas Bay Insurance Agency on State Street.
The tour also included a stop at the Iosco County News-Herald office, next door to the insurance agency. Operating under different names throughout the years, the publication has had a presence in the community since the first edition of the Tawas Herald was printed on Jan. 10, 1884.
On such a gray and rainy day, the warm and inviting space of the Community Hub, located on First Street in Tawas City, was the perfect place to grab a hot cup of coffee and visit one of the area’s unique businesses at the same time. Hoadley arrived with Janell Shipley, his constituent services manager, to meet TACC Member Services and Event Coordinator Suzan Nemeth, Duvall and TACC Youth Representative Jenason Arnold.
The Hub is a nonprofit cooperative founded by Chandra Hunter-Greulich, run by its community members and governed by a board of directors. As stated on its website, the Hub’s mission is threefold – “To create a more resilient and local food supply, to build stronger and healthier communities and to support and strengthen the local economy.”
While waiting for folks to join the tour, conversation covered a wide variety of topics, such as how to retain native residents to the area through increased educational offerings and more job opportunities; what the different impacts are between sweeping legislation that may have a lot of issues, and attacking problems more specifically one at a time so that issues are properly corrected; and economic development needs of the area.
Once everyone had gathered, the group set off for a tour of the NMCAC by board member Mark Ferguson and therapist Laurie Miller. Other members of the community joined the tour to show their support of the center, including East Tawas Fire Chief Bill Deckett, East Tawas Police Chief Frank Anthony, Iosco County Central Dispatch Director Mike Eller, Michigan State Police Trooper Allen Good and Department of Human Services (DHS) Director Lisa Davis.
Ferguson and Miller took turns answering Hoadley’s questions and explaining how the center’s client support system works, as well as how they coordinate their efforts with first responders, DHS and other services to support children and their families during a traumatic experience.
The facility includes a private waiting room, private interview rooms and a medical suite for collecting forensic evidence.
As posted on the NMCAC website, the mission of the center is, “To foster healing and reduce the trauma of child abuse and neglect by providing prevention, intervention and advocacy services to children and family members.”
Ferguson shared with Hoadley that the center runs on a $1.5 million budget, which is funded mostly through federal, state and local support. However, it is currently facing a shortage due to funds that were initially intended to be divided by the 40 children assessment centers (CACS) in the state of Michigan, but ended up mostly going to non-CACs, which is an example of legislation not being carried out to fulfill its original intention.
Due to the staff’s expertise in the field, Eller added that the center’s facilities are now being used for supporting adult trauma victims, as well.
“These services prevent trauma from being relived repeatedly – anything you can do to help support funding for this service is appreciated,” he told Hoadley.
Ferguson added that with the current climate of mistrust in law enforcement, every dollar given to the center is worth thousands of dollars if it reduces victims’ trauma.
Before leaving, Shipley asked what the center’s thoughts were on the upcoming transition from Ascension St. Joseph Hospital to MyMichigan Health. “We’re excited,” Ferguson responded, referring to this a good move and noting that MyMichigan Health is more geared toward health outside of the hospital.
The NMCAC is currently in a building provided by Ascension St. Joseph Hospital, and will be moving into a new facility which they have remodeled to their specifications, and is also provided by the hospital.
Following a brief respite at the TACC office, the tour continued at O’Connor’s, a store currently run by a third generation owner, Aimee O’Connor. The business is known for selling “Furniture to fashion and everything in between.” O’Connor became the owner in 2019, succeeding her father, Tim, and her uncle, John.
With a break in the drizzle, the tour headed to the Iosco County News-Herald office. Production Manager Jerry Malone led the tour and pointed out the printing press in the back of the building that ran its last paper, The Nor’Easter, on Jan. 6, 2021, before the publication moved its newspaper printing to Ludington. Oddly enough, the final page printed was still on a rolling drum inside the press, and on its page was an advertisement placed by Hoadley, himself, when running for the position he currently holds.
Editor John Morris and Associate Editor Jenny Haglund were both in attendance during the tour, and took the opportunity to share the importance of local papers in general, as well as remaining independent of politics so that a high level of objectivity is maintained when reporting.
Morris asked Hoadley if he had any news to share from Lansing, or anything he was doing in particular which may impact Iosco County.
Hoadley responded by sharing several intentional and strategic activities that he has worked on to focus more attention on this area. This includes building strong relationships with a variety of state government agencies, such as the Michigan Economic Development Corporation; writing letters of support for constituents who were pursuing competitive grant funds; standing against the repeal of the state’s right-to-work law, as well as the prevailing wage increase, which he feels will both ultimately be detrimental to the state’s economy; and supporting local control over wind and solar energy farms.
When asked why he became a state representative, “It gives me a sense of pride serving something bigger than myself,” Hoadley shared.
He added that he also feels that his background growing up in small town rural Michigan, his military experience and his work in local government have really helped him to deeply understand the needs of the people of the area so that he can advocate for them.
In speaking about economic development of the area, Hoadley stated, “My take on that is to make a warm, welcoming place for business, but there is no need to pressure them.” Hoadley feels that it is important to update all of the infrastructure in an area prior to development so that it is ready when needed, but to also be cautious about developing too fast, so as not to take away from the area’s original character.
The last stop on Hoadley’s tour, before lunch at the Tawas Bay Beach Resort, was another generational business, the Tawas Bay Insurance Agency. It is currently owned and operated by Jennifer and Ryan Ladley. Jennifer took over the agency when her father, and former owner, Mark Elliott, semi-retired. Jennifer is the fourth generation in her family to own the business.
During the visit, Duvall took the opportunity to present Ryan with an award from the chamber, for a decade of service to the community.
Richard Castle and Ferguson, who are both on the TACC Board of Directors, joined the group for lunch. Castle, who also serves on the Develop Iosco (DI) Board of Directors, came to represent its interests. He works as the community affairs manager for Consumers Energy’s northeast region, as well. Topics of conversation about the needs of Iosco County, included infrastructure, affordable housing and childcare.
On the last topic, Castle explained to Hoadley that without affordable childcare, people are not able to get back to work; therefore, DI has chosen to focus its funding on supporting any childcare business, as well as helping those businesses navigate the complicated licensing process – which is cumbersome and considered a deterrent.
Castle continued by noting that another problem for these businesses, is that many of the parents they serve rely on Medicaid through the government, which does not reimburse expenses quickly and adds further stress to both businesses and families.
Castle shared that DI is coordinating with Target Alpena on the issue of affordable housing, which is the driving force on this topic. And, since businesses all rely on internet for business communication, DI feels that it is a necessity to support a more reliable source of internet connection in order for the area to become more self-reliant.
Hoadley was appreciative of all of the businesses opening their doors to him and speaking about issues of importance to the community. He reaffirmed that he wants to hear the concerns of his constituents, including individuals, businesses, nonprofits and local government. Hoadley shared that he is in AuGres Friday to Monday, and in Lansing Tuesday through Thursday. He can be contacted by phone at 517-373-1789, via e-mail at MikeHoadley@house.mi.gov and by mail at House of Representatives, P.O. Box 30014, Lansing, MI 48909-7514.
