Econ Club of Marquette County wraps up speaker series with focus on mining

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - The Economic Club of Marquette County has wrapped up its 2025 speaker series with a look at the impact of mining on the community.

The Economic Club works to provide a social network for creating awareness and education on economic issues facing Marquette County. The final speaker was Matt Johnson, the external relations manager for Eagle Mine. He says his presentation highlights the impact of mining in Upper Michigan.

“I’m excited to wrap up the season for the Marquette County Economic Club talking about the economic opportunities and economic impacts from the mining industry,” Johnson said. “Not just today in the Upper Peninsula but what we can expect in the future and also just historically, how the U.P. was transformed with mining opportunities and why many of our communities are here today.”

The outgoing president of the Economic Club says this group contains representatives from a wide variety of industries across Upper Michigan.

“Econ Club is really a social networking club,” Economic Club of Marquette County Outgoing President Rick Rhoades said. “It allows every industry in our entire county to come together and break some bread, do some networking and then hear a great speaker.”

Johnson says in order for communities to be economically resilient, they need to diversify jobs.

“What I hope everyone takes away today is the need, in our rural communities throughout the Upper Peninsula,” Johnson said. “The need to diversify jobs. It’s not just about mining, it’s not just about logging, not just about tourism, but it’s about manufacturing and health care and continuing that investment in our natural resources.”

The Economic Club of Marquette County has had more than 100 guest speakers to its monthly meetings. The speaker series returns this fall.