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ISHPEMING -- As many may already know, Paul Argall, a prominent U.P. businessman, passed away over the weekend due to an unexpected medical condition while snowmobiling.

People we spoke with say you'd never know how much Paul Argall did for the community by talking to him.  He was that modest.

Since starting PCBM Management in 1988, the Country Village development now consists of 22 businesses and employs nearly 200 people.

Why was he so successful?  It's because he had a vision for a town he loved deeply.

If you take a look at the Country Village development in Ishpeming, you'd never know that just 22 years ago, it used to be a vacant field.  It now has everything from shops to restaurants to hotels, and that's due to Paul Argall's business model.

"He brought in stores like Pamida as a big anchor store.  He brought in a McDonald's restaurant.  He brought in a bank owned by other companies and then developed many of the other businesses themselves--the motels, the restaurants, and all of the other shops in that area," says Don Ryan, who knew Argall through his involvement in the Ishpeming community.

But Argall didn't just create businesses, he provided the services to support them.

"All the way from real estate development, to consulting services, to accounting services, to basic business services, maintenance and snow plowing.  He did it all for Country Village," says Paul Arsenault, who also worked with Argall on a variety of business projects.

And even though he owned all of those businesses, that doesn't mean he ran them.

"He put his faith into his managers and his trust.  Paul always expected us to run his businesses like it's ours," says Pat Beyer, the General Manager of Jasper Ridge Brewery.

Argall is also responsible for bringing back the Ishpeming-Negaunee Chamber of Commerce, which works to create a network of support for local businesses in the area.

"I think he saw the value in the area coming back together, working together, that it would be stronger in numbers," says Elizabeth Peterson, Director of the Ishpeming-Negaunee Chamber of Commerce.

But Paul Argall wasn't just a businessman; at heart, he was a family man.

"I've had a lot of different conversations with his daughter, and one of the things she always stresses is that...everything he did was to secure their future and to make sure they had a happy, positive future," Peterson says.

Services for Paul Argall have been set for Wednesday at 5 p.m. at Mitchell United Methodist Church in Negaunee.  Visitation is from 2 to 5 p.m.