Sugar Loaf Fails to Find Support in State & Local Government

Record-Eagle columnist Bill O’Brien writes:

It seems odd that developers, manufacturers big and small, nonprofits and other anointed business interests can squeeze millions in public money out of our revenue-challenged state and local governments, while other long-time operations and major employers like Sugar Loaf Resort in Leelanau County or Shanty Creek Resort in Antrim County struggle for years without generating any such support.

Perhaps the $50 million plan for reviving Sugar Loaf is too modest, without any large buildings or public parking decks. Maybe there’s not enough environmental contamination on the property, and there are no threats to pick up and move the operation to another state or country that’s ready to cut a deal.

The quandary of places like Sugar Loaf epitomizes how many politicians and bureaucrats approach the state’s struggling economy. It’s all about “thinking outside the box” and “high-tech corridors” or “trade missions” to faraway lands; lofty but fuzzy initiatives to try and convince the public that the policy-makers have big ideas for long-range solutions.

Read the rest of No love for ‘The Loaf’ on the state level in the Traverse City Record-Eagle