WUPPDR Seeks Public Feedback on 2026-2030 Economic Development Strategy

The Western Upper Peninsula Planning & Development Region posted its draft 2026-2030 Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy for public review this week, giving Iron County residents and local governments a rare direct line into a planning document that will guide regional economic priorities for the next five years. Comments must be emailed to jwuorenmaa@wuppdr.org no later than April 17, 2026.

The draft of the 2026-2030 CEDS is available for public review through April 17, 2026. The full draft, including a separate appendix containing goals and objectives, is posted as PDFs on WUPPDR's website.

The CEDS is maintained by a committee of approximately a dozen regional stakeholders encompassing a variety of economic interests and sectors, with the committee meeting quarterly on an ongoing basis and more frequently as needed to conduct an extensive update of the documents every five years. The current public comment period is part of that five-year update cycle. The previous five-year CEDS for 2022-2026 was adopted by the WUPPDR Commission on December 20, 2021.

WUPPDR holds its designation as an Economic Development District Organization through the U.S. Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration, and the CEDS is the foundational document that sustains that status. The strategy serves two core purposes: acting as a centralized regional overview and data source covering infrastructure, socioeconomic data, and physical geography, and establishing a roadmap to identify regional issues, opportunities, goals, and objectives.

The organization frames its role in explicitly regional terms. "Regional planning agencies are unique in their ability to offer a high-level, nonparochial view of issues and priorities," WUPPDR states in the draft materials. "In both cases, WUPPDR is the key entity to convene diverse organizations and local governments in our region to work toward the same goals and objectives whenever possible."

That regional scope is broad. WUPPDR's membership includes the counties of Baraga, Gogebic, Houghton, Iron, Keweenaw, and Ontonagon; the cities of Hancock and Houghton; the villages of L'Anse and Ontonagon; and the charter townships of Calumet and Portage. Tribal governments are also eligible for membership. The organization is part of Prosperity Region 1, which encompasses the entire Upper Peninsula.

WUPPDR's roots in the region go back more than five decades. The organization was constituted in 1968 through Michigan Public Act 46 of 1966, the County or Regional Economic Development Act, and Michigan Public Act 281 of 1945, the Regional Planning Act. In 1970 it changed its name to the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region Commission and reconstituted itself under sole authority of Public Act 281. Its stated mission: "to foster stable and diversified economies in the Western Upper Peninsula."

The organization's background materials note that budget pressures at all levels of government are sharpening the case for regional coordination: "With all governments facing budget reductions, the importance of regionalism and collaboration is becoming apparent in order to provide programs and services to a larger geographic boundary."

The draft main document and appendix are available on WUPPDR's website at wuppdr.org. Written comments should be submitted by email to jwuorenmaa@wuppdr.org before the April 17 deadline. The five-year plan that results will carry real weight: under federal rules, regions must update their CEDS at least every five years to qualify for EDA assistance under its Public Works and Economic Adjustment Assistance programs.