It has thrilled us to read recent stories by News staff writer Steve Schulwitz about major economic development efforts in the works in Alpena.

Among the pending projects: a Starbucks, a Marshalls department store, an Aldi grocery store, and a Marriott hotel.

Those projects could not only add dozens of jobs to our city, but also could increase the quality of life for residents and attract more tourists to our fair city. And development tends to build on top of development — meaning that, if those pending projects succeed, we could see more such investments in our future.

We have many people to thank for that good news.

Of course, we have folks like Mike Mahler at Target Alpena and others who work directly with developers to entice them to invest in our region. And, of course, we have the developers themselves, for considering spending major money to make our community a more interesting place.

But we also should thank the hard work of every entrepreneur and employee already here. Existing business owners have helped make our economy and business climate strong enough to show other investors they could succeed here, and those business owners’ workers have shown they have the talent and skills investors need to succeed.

And, finally, we have to thank each and every Northeast Michigander not only for spending money at local businesses but also for their hospitality and kindness, which makes ours a region worth visiting and worth investing in.

Economic development does not happen in a vacuum, and we all play a role in making our region more successful.

(THE ALPENA NEWS)