Twenty-six percent jobless rate in Baraga County
By Jeni Jewell
Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 6:25 p.m.
Read more: Local, Certainteed, L'anse, Joblessness, Unemployment, Highest Rate, County Numbers, Terex, Pettibone
L'ANSE -- CertainTeed in L'Anse, which makes ceiling tiles for commercial use, is a rarity in Baraga County. It's a company that's had job openings.
Earlier this month, CertainTeed posted 33 new job positions. Two-hundred-forty-five people applied, and the chances of getting one of the coveted jobs is about 13 percent.
It's an accurate snapshot of Baraga County's languishing economy, where unemployment in June reached 26 percent.
"It's actually the second highest in the nation," said Kim Stoker, of the Western U.P. Planning and Development Region. "And I believe there's one county in California that beats Baraga's high unemployment rate. But in the state of Michigan and Wisconsin, it's definitely the highest."
Why the high rates? Many of the manufacturers in L'Anse and Baraga supply products to Pettibone and Terex. And demand for products in those companies is down, causing a ripple effect.
"To get out of this rut we're going to have to go out of the box," said Tracey Barrette, of the Baraga County Convention and Visitors Bureau, "to bring more revenue into Baraga County; to get these businesses back up and running and people back to work."
But the manufacturer's have a plan to get new business, by forming a loose network, called the Lake Superior Suppliers, and taking their companies to a trade show in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
They hope to provide supplies to oil and sand developers.
"We need to go up there and figure out how we can supply," Stoker said, "because these fabricators here can build darn near anything that can be used in those type of developments."
And hopefully that will mean more jobs for resident in Baraga County and allow them to shed the dubious honor of being one of the most unemployed counties in the nation.
