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MARQUETTE -- It's someplace special or a distinctive destination.

Either way, Marquette is gaining recognition for being a successful, thriving community.  Just recently, it was compared to small towns across the country to examine the best practices.  And at Friday's Economic Club luncheon, lead researcher, Dave Ivan, presented his findings.

"We wanted someone to come in and tell us what they had found with the rest of the country.  What makes a community successful, what are the criteria, what are some things--the problems--but also what are those unique things that make communities successful?" said Marquette County's Economic Club President Tom Baldini.

So what factors were considered?  It came down to the five pillars of success.

"One, the communities were committed to entrepreneurship to building a culture of innovation.  Secondly, they made strategic investments in the new economy paradigm, looking at, for example, Internet connectivity.  Thirdly, they had strong social capital, strong networks that extended business connections beyond the immediate community to a really regional context," explained Dave Ivan.

Sense of place and the town's regionalism were also taken into consideration.

Ivan said that Marquette has a toe in the water in each of the five pillars of success, but one reason that it really stands out is because it has a university that's well engaged with the community.  But of course, there's always room for improvement.

"I think from Marquette's perspective, there's an opportunity to further strengthen some of its regional contacts beyond simply the county or even perhaps beyond the Upper Peninsula," Ivan said.