2012

ALSOINSIDE

Xccelerated FitnessOpen 24-7 in Ishpeming

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NMU HumanCentered DesignStudents get a taste ofItaly with a exhibition tripto Milan

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Cliffs Reports record revenues

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WiMax NMU system receivingapplause

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KBIC gas stationStill in the works

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U.P. CatholicCredit UnionOpens a branch in Negaunee

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Area school enrollmentTotals climbing

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ETCETERA— SECTION MMONdAy, MARCH 26

PROGRESSA SPECIAL SECTION OF THE MINING JOURNAL

By JOHANNA BOYLEJournal Ishpeming Bureau

ISHPEMING — Joining a nationwide coop-erative has allowed one privately-ownedfloor furnishings company to bring a widerselection of products and services to Mar-quette County.

Ishpeming’s Carpet Specialists becameCarpet Specialists Carpet One in July 2010,with a fully remodeled showroom in Januaryof 2011.

“There’s a thousand stores in the UnitedStates. That gives us buying power,” saidCarpet Specialists Carpet One co-ownerScott Patrick.

The Carpet One cooperative allows localstores to remain locally owned, but providesnew initiatives, a greater range of productsand special deals that would not be availablewithout joining the co-op.

“They give us the tools and we choosewhich tools to use,” Patrick said.

In addition, the cooperative provides itsmembers with two conventions for employ-

ees to attend each year to network and con-tinue receiving training.

“They’ve helped us to create systems,”Patrick said, adding that those systems andpolicies bring familiarity to customers. “Whenyou walk into one Carpet One store, you canwalk in any store in the USA.”

With joining the cooperative, Carpet Spe-cialists also went through a complete remod-eling of the store’s show room, a $157,000investment. The cooperative provides thestores with new, uniform displays every sixmonths, which makes it easier for customersto compare different types of floor coverings.The new displays also come with Quick Re-sponse Codes, which customers can scanwith their smartphones to learn more aboutthe product online.

In addition, joining the cooperative has al-lowed Carpet Specialists to begin offering anoption called Healthier Living Installation. Astearing up old carpeting can often releasedust and other irritants into the air, the HLIoption lets customers get new floor cover-

ings without stirring up all the stuff that mightbe trapped in their old carpeting.

Installers first seal off adjoining rooms withplastic to prevent dust from moving through-out the house. Then the old carpet is vacu-umed thoroughly and sprayed with a disin-fecting antimicrobial treatment that pre-serves the indoor air quality. Once the oldcarpet is removed, installers first put in anantimicrobial carpet cushion, lay the newcarpeting and once again vacuum and spraythe allergen-deterrent spray. The processkeeps the allergens from traveling through-out the home when the carpet is removed.

Patrick said Carpet Specialists first beganconsidering joining the cooperative sevenyears ago and found the timing to be rightmore recently.

“They’re the largest co-op in the world,” hesaid.

Johanna Boyle can be reached at 906-486-4401. Her email address is jboyle@min-ingjournal.net.

Carpet SpecialistsCo-op expands floor company’s lineup

By JOHANNA BOYLEJournal Staff Writer

ISHPEMING —Whether due to workingnight shift or just beingtoo busy during the day,trying to fit making it tothe gym into your sched-ule can be a challenge.Thanks to 24-hour gyms,not having time is nolonger an excuse.

In December, a new 24-hour access gym openedin Ishpeming Township,offering west end resi-dents the opportunity towork out whenever it fitstheir schedule.

“With the 24-hour for-mat, people pick theirown time to come in,”said Xccelerated Fitnessowner Josh Drew, whoco-owns the businesswith wife, Anna Drew. “Itworks out really well.

“A lot of people I knowwith ‘normal’ jobs like thesecurity of having a facil-ity that’s open 24 hours.”

Xccelerated Fitness, lo-cated in the same plazaon U.S. 41 as SnyderDrug, offers both cardioand weight machines, freeweights, as well as per-sonal and group training.

Members, who pur-chase their membershipson a month to month ba-sis — no contract — areprovided with an accesscard that lets them enterthe facility whenever theywant. Besides personaland group training op-tions, the gym also offerssome corporate wellnessoptions for businessgroups that might want tooffer that option to theiremployees. In addition,several local schoolteams also receive train-

ing at the gym to improvetheir conditioning.

Now with More than200 members, Drew saidthe gym has achieved agood flow of trafficthroughout the day.Members don’t have towait for equipment, evenat peak times.

When members join,the gym offers a 45-minute introductory ses-sion with a trainer thatnot only helps new mem-bers get familiar with thegym, but also teachesthem how to use theequipment and select theproper weight and set-tings on the equipment.

“It gives them more of aprogram for the first fourto six weeks,” Drew said.

In addition, XcceleratedFitness members cantake part in monthly train-ing seminars that focuson teaching a specificsets of exercises so thatmembers can add thoseexercises into their regu-lar routines.

The education and hav-ing staff on handthroughout most of theday, combined with the24-hour access meansmembers have all theyneed on hand to get in agood workout.

“I’ve been trying toeliminate excuses. Thebiggest excuse time.That excuse is pretty welleliminated,” Drew said.

For more information,check out the gym’s web-site xccelerated fitness.com.

Johanna Boyle can bereached at 906-486-4401.Her email address isjboyle@miningjournal.net.

2M -— The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

A lot of people I know with ‘normal’jobs like the security of having a fa-cility that’s open 24 hours.

“- JOSH DREW

Xccelerated Fitness owner

”

Xccelerated Fitness is a new 24-hour gym that opened in December of 2011 in Ishpeming Township. Right, owner Josh Drew, who owns the business with wife, Anna,stands in the new exercise facility. (Journal photo by Johanna Boyle)

Xccelerated Fitness open 24-7

By JOURNAL STAFF MARQUETTE — The

Lake Superior Communi-ty Partnership presentedits 2012 DistinguishedService Awards, spon-sored by the MarquetteCounty Ambassadors, atLSCP’s annual dinner cel-ebration March 16 inNorthern Michigan Uni-versity’s Great LakesRooms.

VAST was presentedthe business award andMike Roy as the individu-al award recipient.

The awards were pre-sented in front of nearly300 community membersattending the celebration.

Criteria used in theaward selection processinclude:

• making a strong contri-bution to the bettermentof Marquette Countythrough the use of time,talent and/or treasure

• helping the Lake Su-perior Community Part-nership reach its commu-nity and economic devel-opment goals

• demonstrating leader-ship within the community

“Each year, one of thehighlights of our AnnualDinner has been the op-portunity it presents torecognize companies andindividuals who make sig-nificant contributions toour community and to theLake Superior Communi-ty Partnership,” said TomEdmark, LSCP’s chair-man. “This year is no ex-ception and I am verypleased with the selectioncommittee’s choice forthese prestigiousawards.  I have had thepleasure of working withboth recipients over thelast several years and be-lieve they are well deserv-ing of the recognition.

“Not only has Mikeserved on the LSCPboard since 2003, he hasbeen instrumental in hisrole as Treasurer andChair of the Finance TaskForce for the LSCP since2007,” Edmark said. “Un-der Mike’s firm guidancethe LSCP was able toeliminate its debt, im-prove cash flow and re-porting processes and seta course for beginning to

plan for the long term fi-nancial health of the orga-nization.

Edmark said VAST’s in-volvement in the localcommunity has been ex-emplary.

“As an organization,they have supportedmany worthwhile causesover the years for the pur-pose of making MarquetteCounty a better place tolive for all of us,” Edmarksaid. “VAST encouragestheir employees to be-come involved in the com-munity which helps themgrow both personally andprofessionally.”

The Lake Superior Community Partnership presented the Distinguished Service Awardin business to VAST at its annual dinner March 16 in Marquette. At the award presenta-tion were, from left, Vast employees Chris VanAbel, Tom Cousineau and Scott White;award presenter Dave Puskala; and VAST employees Pam Stewart and Jay Hillier. Theindividual service award went to Dr. Mike Roy. (Journal photo by Matt Keiser)

MIKE ROY

By JOURNAL STAFF CLEVELAND —  Cliffs

Natural Resources re-ported record revenuesfor 2011.

In February, Cliffs re-leased its fourth-quarterand full-year report forthe period ended Dec.31. The mining companyreported record full-yearrevenues of $6.8 billion,an increase of $2.1 bil-lion — or more than 45percent — from the pre-vious year. Full-year op-erating income in-creased to $2.3 billion,up 85 percent from $1.3billion in 2010.

In addition to therecord-breaking financialresults, Cliffs toutedcompany milestones:  ¯ Completing the $4.9

billion (Canadian) acqui-sition of ConsolidatedThompson, an emergingworld-class iron ore pro-

ducer in eastern Cana-da, along with imple-menting the long-termcapital structure to fi-nance the deal;¯ Increasing the quar-

terly cash dividend rateby 100 percent;¯ The addition of Cliffs

to the Fortune 500 list-ing;¯ Being ranked No. 7

on the 2011 Barron's500 America's Top Com-panies List;¯ Advancing its safety

program "Road to Zero"by reducing year-over-year injury rates acrossthe organization by 15percent; and¯ Executing a global

reorganization, by re-aligning managementresponsibilities forworldwide productionand commercial sales.

"Cliffs delivered an ex-ceptional performance in

2011, a year highlightedwith the transformationalacquisition of Consoli-dated Thompson,” saidJoseph Carrabba, Cliffs'chairman, president andchief executive officer. “... Cliffs is well posi-tioned for continued mo-mentum in 2012 and be-yond."

Cliffs operates the Em-pire and Tilden iron oremines in MarquetteCounty.

Fourth-quarter 2011U.S. iron ore pellet salesvolume was 7.8 milliontons, a 20 percent in-crease from the 6.5 mil-lion tons sold in thefourth quarter of 2010.The increase was pri-marily attributed tostronger demand for ironore pellets driven byslightly higher NorthAmerican steel industryuse.

An aerial view of the Empire Mine pit and facility. (Cliffs Michigan Mining Co. photo)

VAST, Roy honoredwith LSCP awards

Cliffs reportsrecord revenuesof $6.8 billion

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 — 3MPROGRESS2012

By Journal StaffMARQUETTE — Crews

demolished the vacantLos Tres Amigos restau-rant, located outside ofMarquette on U.S. High-way 41, in November tomake way for a new Ke-weenaw Bay Indian Com-munity gas station.

At that time, the gas sta-tion was still in the plan-ning phase, said Larry De-nomie, chief exectuive of-ficer of the KBIC.

In early March, a tribespokeswoman said thereis no updated informationto release on the project.

Jason McCarthy, plan-ning and zoning admin-strator for MarquetteTownship, said: “We havenot received any addition-al information about siteplanning nor any permitrequests. We’re waitingand we’ll see what hap-pens.”

In November, Denomiesaid the tribe had alreadypurchased the land andwas in the process of de-signing the new gas sta-tion, adding that an out-side company will be hiredto conduct a feasabilitystudy to indicate an appro-priate size for the station.

Denomie added thatthey are consideringadding a retail outlet to thegas station, though therehas been no decisionmade either way on thatissue.

The tribe is also current-ly working on a land-to-trust application for thenewly purchased lot,which will then be sent tothe Bureau of Indian Af-fairs.

If the BIA approves theapplication, the land canbe placed into trust, andconstruction on the gasstation can begin.

BIA approval can takequite some time, Denomiesaid.

After receiving the appli-cation, the BIA puts theapplication out for publiccomment. If it has a find-ing of no significiant im-pact, meaning there isnothing detrimental to thetribe, the application is giv-en more time to receivepublic comment, afterwhich the BIA makes its fi-nal determination.

“If things go as we want-ed, we would hopefully beconstructing some timenext year and constructionwould take anywhere fromthree to six months,” De-nomie said in November.“But that is very depen-dent on the land-to-trustprocess.”

The tribe hired Associat-ed Contractors out of Mar-quette to conduct the de-molition.

Above, a screen capture of the Stellarium program showing the early evening sky,with the conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter. Below, a screen capture avideo NMU professor Carl Wozniak played in his office about the upcoming Junetransit of Venus across the sun. (Photos submitted by Carl Wozniak)

By RENEE PRUSIJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — Thebroadband wireless net-work — called theWiMAX system — atNorthern Michigan Uni-versity has receivedplaudits from the Presi-dent of the UnitedStates himself.

Its being used in everyday practice by the fu-ture teachers of Americareceiving their educationat NMU.

Northern is the firstuniversity in the countryto operate its ownWiMAX network, a tech-nology capable of trans-ferring data, voice andvideo at distances farbeyond what is availablewith traditional Wi-Fi.

At the undergraduatelevel, every student go-ing into teaching musttake a specific courseabout using the system,ED 483, said Joe Lubig,Associate Dean forTeacher Education and

School of EducationDirector for the NMUSchool of Education.

With that requirement— and every NMU stu-dent having a laptopcomputer — the use ofWiMAX between theuniversity and local pub-lic schools has becomemore regular procedure.

“We’ve become em-bedded in the localschools,” Lubig said.“Our students are get-ting an authentic audi-ence to try out with.They are fulfilling re-quests from teachers

and needs from stu-dents. They are makinga lesson plan around thecontent area.”

Lubig said he and therest of the school of ed-ucation at the universityare grateful for localschools allowing theWiMAX access.

“Without the localschools, there is nowway our students wouldget these great experi-ence. We are thankfulfor the teachers, the stu-dents, the parents andthe administrators atthese schools.”

Using WiMAX technol-ogy to present lessonsfor real classroom re-view has opened up theworld for many.

“Some are not asadept at technology asothers but in this way,they are learning aboutthe many ways technol-ogy can be a teachingtool,” Lubig said. “Theyhave mentors who arestrong.”

The use of WiMAX toconnect the K-12 class-room with the teachersin training can providethe chance for class-room teachers to pro-vide practical advice.

“They can also ask ‘isthis the best way to usetechnology in this in-stance?,’” Lubig said.

NMU’s WiMAX nowreaches as far asHoughton, with schooldistricts like L’Anse nowon board. The Mar-quette Area PublicSchools, however, re-main the primary focus.

NMU undergraduatesdoing student teachingare also brought into thepicture, helping themalong the way.

“It’s not that the equip-ment makes you betterat what you do but ithelps,” Lubig said. “It al-lows them to take riskswith a lesso n plan and ifit flops, they can debriefimmediately and find outwhy.”

Some NMU professorshave brought lessons toK-12 classroomsthrough WiMAX.

“(Art professor)Michael Letts taught aclass and had the samesupplies in his room asthe classroom had avail-able to them,” Lubigsaid. “Here’s an expertwho can show you ex-actly how to do things,step by step, usually thesame materials the stu-dents have to use.”

In general, the WiMAXsystem allows futureteachers to get realclassroom experiencewithout leaving campusand allows those stu-dent teaching away fromcampus an extremelypractical way to keep incontact.

Renee Prusi can becontacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 253. Her emailaddress is rprusi@min-ingjournal.net.

KBIC gas stationstill in the works

WiMax system receiving applause

4M — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

Demolition of the old Los Tres Amigos building tookplace last year. KBIC plans to construct a gas station.(Journal photo by Matt Keiser)

We’ve become embedded in the lo-cal schools. Our students are gettingan authentic audience to try out with.They are fulfilling requests fromteachers and needs from students.They are making a lesson planaround the content area.

“

- JOE LUBIGAssociate Dean for Teacher Education and

School of Education Director for the NMU School of

Education

”

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 — 5MPROGRESS2012

6M — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012

By RENEE PRUSIJournal Staff Writer

NEGAUNEE — Foryears, the Upper Penin-sula Catholic CreditUnion has fielded re-quests to open a branchin the western part ofMarquette County.

On Jan. 3, those re-quests were answeredwhen the Negauneebranch of the credit unionopened its doors.

“We’ve probably had aneven better responsethan we imagined,” saidTom Blake, CEO of theUPCCU. “Opening thefirst week of January, weexpected things to beslow, but people have re-ally responded.

“We’ve been trying toget to Negaunee for sev-eral years but our landacquisition efforts would-n’t work,” he said. “Wewere hoping this (site)would come availableand it did.”

The site, explainedbranch manager Julie Ol-son, was most recently a

Wells Fargo bank andbefore that was a Michi-gan Financial Corpora-tion entity in the 1990s.

“We were able to moveright in,” Olson said.

A few tweaks weredone to the space, how-ever.

“We changed around alot,” Blake said. “The waythings were, the manag-er from her office couldn’tsee the parking lot andcouldn’t see the tellers.So we moved thingsaround a bit. Now wehave a closing table formortgages in the manag-er’s office. Our officesare now enclosed, whichmakes it great for priva-cy.”

Blake said Olson andher staff immediatelyreached out to existingUPCCU members wholived on the west end.

“Julie and her staff didsuch a good job with out-reach,” Blake said. “Peo-ple were coming in rightaway.”

Olson said she’s been

gratified by the public’sreaction.

“So many people hadsuch an overwhelminglypositive response,” shesaid. “And we had manynew people come in tojoin. Everyone has madeus feel so welcome in thecommunity. It has beenwonderful.”

The credit union isopen from 9 a.m. to 6p.m. Monday through Fri-day and from 9 a.m. tonoon Saturday. Thedrive-thru is open forthose same hours.

Olson said she feelslucky to be working in thespace.

“From my office, I havesuch a wonderful view,”she said. “All the naturallight is great and I cansee what’s going on out-side. It’s been a greatstart here.”

Renee Prusi can be con-tacted at 906-228-2500,ext. 253. Her email ad-dress is rprusi@min-ingjournal.net.

Top, Sherrill Johnson a teller at the Upper Peninsula Catholic Credit Union workswith customer Molly Roussin at the new Negaunee branch opened in 2012. (Jour-nal photos by Renee Prusi)

By Journal StaffMARQUETTE —Area

school officials expressedhope in a possible demo-graphic shift, following atally of student enrollmentlast year.

Though totals in manyindividual districts varied,the overall number of stu-dents in Marquette and Al-ger counties appeared toincrease slightly com-pared to those from theprevious statewide countday in February, 2010.

That is a rare phe-nomenon, according toSteve Peffers, the super-intendent of the Mar-quette-Alger Regional Ed-ucational Service Agency,which works with 13school districts in the two-county area.

“With a couple of excep-tions, we have been in de-clining enrollment foryears,” he said.

According to Peffers,there were 16,573 stu-dents enrolled in MARE-SA schools — includingnon-public schools — in

1981. By last year, thatnumber had dipped to9,858.

While he is pleased thenumbers appear to haveat least leveled off thisyear, he isn’t ready to cel-ebrate just yet.

“I think it’s an outlier atthis point,” he said of thetotals. “We would need atleast two or three years ofcontinued growth to saythat it’s a shift.”

The student populationin Marquette Area PublicSchools fell by 30, but thedistrict initially projected aloss of more than 80 stu-dents and ultimately bud-geted for a drop of 50.

“Our first indication (of apositive change) waswhen the kindergartencame in for the first regis-tration,” MAPS Superin-tendent Deb Veiht said.“Kindergarten is reallywhere we saw ourgrowth.”

Something similar hap-pened in Negaunee,where Superintendent JimDerocher said the district

has seen a “dramatic in-crease” in kindergartennumbers. He hopes he iswitnessing the beginningof a trend of increasingenrollment at lower gradelevels. Such a shift couldmean increased classsizes throughout the dis-trict in the future.

Like in Marquette, Ne-gaunee administratorswere expecting an enroll-ment drop, but insteadsaw an increase of nearly50 students.

“Our (projections)showed a decline too, butas I look at this, I’m alsolooking at what’s happen-ing with employment inthe area,” said Derocher,who felt the Cliffs NaturalResources and Kennecottoperations may be attract-ing people.

Peffers said it is alsopossible that increasedkindergarten enrollmentmay signal a rise in thebirth rate, since censusnumbers indicate the pop-ulation hasn’t changedmuch in the last decade.

Students at Negaunee’s Lakeview Elementary School have abrand new playground structure to enjoy, thanks to several yearsof community fundraising. (Journal photo by Johanna Boyle)

U.P. Catholic CreditUnion opens a branchin Negaunee

Area enrollmenttotals climbing

PROGRESS2012 The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 — 7M

8M — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 26 PROGRESS2012