Defying trends, Boyne City grows while others don't

From the Petoskey News-Review: Growth has been a part of Boyne City's story for more than a century, so at least to some extent it should not be a surprise that the lakeside community's most recent boom wasn't stymied by the Great Recession. In the early 1900s, the timber industry spurred growth in Boyne City. About 100 years later, strategic development and so-called "placemaking" efforts are driving business and population growth in and around Boyne City. "Our area has been a resort area for a zillion years," said Northern Lakes Economic Alliance president Andy Hayes. "Boyne City, over all that time, was really more of a blue-collar town. If you look at the last 15 years or so, Boyne City has really transitioned. People are discovering, 'Oh, this is a cool little place.'" Those who work in economic development, like Hayes, say the steady success is just as much about a unified approach as it is about opportunity and location. "This community understands placemaking as an economic development tool," Hayes said. "When they do stuff, whether it be the schools or the parks or the downtown, they understand it's all about making it a cool place where people want to live. It's not just for the tourists." Full story.