Calls to

Michigan Works! decline

The Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium said in a recent newsletter it answered 1,728 calls in July, down from 3,894 in June, 2,110 in May, and 3,679 in April, perhaps a sign that job losses from the coronavirus pandemic are slowing.

The agency also released the following statistics for August:

∫ 3,913 customers served by NEMC offices

∫ 152 new employers worked with

∫ 84 total job postings NEMC has placed on PMTC for employers

∫ 160 job postings employers have placed on PMTC themselves

Home builders ‘cautiously

optimistic’

Michigan communities issued 1,587 permits for new single-family housing in June, up from the 1,547 issued in June 2019, the Home Builders Association of Michigan said in a news release.

That’s a sign the industry may be recovering from the coronavirus pandemic’s slam to the state’s economy.

Through the first half of 2020, 6,046 permits were issued, down from 7,134 by this time last year.

Still, “we are cautiously optimistic regarding an increase in June permit numbers compared to last year,” Bob Filka, CEO of the association, said in a statement.

The association projects 13,556 permits will be issued by the end of the year.

Northland

finances theaters renovation

Northland Area Federal Credit Union is providing financial backing for developer Jeff Konczak’s plans to renovate the State and Royal Knight theaters, according to a news release.

Konczak, the developer behind the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration building and Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, Biggby Coffee, and Harborside Mall, announced recently he plans to return to the State to its early-20th-century look and reopen it as a live performance venue and to renovate the Royal Knight and reopen it as a three-screen movie theater.

“When Jeff approached us with these plans, it made a lot of sense — on a business level and a unique opportunity,” Northland Senior Vice President of Lending Jack Eling said in a statement.

Northland is currently building a new facility on Bagley Street to move its headquarters from Oscoda to Alpena.