State Rep. Greg Markkanen on Thursday released a statement regarding the approval of a $50 million grant by the Michigan Strategic Fund to support construction of the Copperwood mine in Gogebic County.

The Upper Peninsula was built on mining, Markkanen said in the release. With the MSF investment, “the community will start pumping out materials that will help rebuild the state and the country.”

Highland Copper estimates the project will create 380 jobs when the mine is operational, with another 313 indirect jobs being created throughout the state. The jobs will range from $80,000 to $120,000. Highland also projects that the Copperwood Project will generate $12 million in local, county and state taxes every year. The projected lifespan of the Copperwood Mine is 10.7 years.

“This project will put more kids in our schools,” Markkanen said in the Thursday release, “fill seats in our local restaurants, and add shoppers for our small businesses.”

Local township officials agree.

At an MSF press conference on Wednesday, Mandy Lake, Wakefield Township supervisor, Bessemer City clerk/treasurer, as well as co-owner of three small business in the township, said the Township Board began passing resolutions supporting the Copperwood Mine in 2009.

Lake said both of her children, ages 11 and 14, attend the local Wakefield-Merenisco School, where photographs of past graduating classes hang on the walls.

“We talk about their class sizes compared to what they used to be. My son’s class size is 20, my daughter’s is 10,” Lake said. “They wonder why were classes were so (much) bigger back then compared to now.”

The answer, she said is in those days, the iron mines in the area were operating. As the mines closed, people left the area to find sustainable jobs elsewhere.

“Because of that,” said Lake, “our schools are consolidating. I feel that if we lose our schools, we lose our community.”

The Copperwood Project, she said will provide the opportunity for the school district to reverse the downward trend.

Jay Kangas, Ironwood Township Supervisor, during the Wednesday press conference, said the Copperwood Project will create hundreds of jobs that the community needs more than ever.

“With the average wage of these jobs being $80,000, that’s $38.26 an hour, compared to our median wage of $19.26 that we currently have. That’s a huge difference for the families that we have in our areas.”

Tom Bergman, Community Development Director for the city of Ironwood said that over the past decade, the city has seen a bit of revitalization of the downtown area, including quite a few new businesses. But the fragility of the economy was seen with the lack of snowfall this past winter, the drop in winter tourism negatively impacted the local business economy.

“What we learned from that is that tourism is only a piece of what we are in this community,” Bergman said, “and in order to really have a sustainable economy (over the) long-term, we need bigger pieces to be involved in that.”

The Copperwood Project is that opportunity, he said, adding that it creates a unique situation where more and substantial employment will be brought to the area, and supporting industries that will come with the project.

“So, during the life of this mine,” said Bergman, “it really is the responsibility of our community to take advantage of this opportunity to create more industry here, so we have a sustainable economy over the long term that will go long beyond the life of this mine.”

The EAGLE Mine, in Marquette County, may provide an example of what the western U.P. may experience as a result of the Copperwood Project.

Matt Johnson, manager of government and community relations for Eagle Mine, in Marquette County, said that county has seen significant benefits from the Eagle Mine.

“We can see from the Eagle Mine’s success that we’ve had, the original mine life was seven years,” Johnson said. “Now, we’re celebrating our 10-year anniversary with many more years of mining ahead of us.

“That infrastructure that was invested in in Marquette County has benefited the entire county and other industries as well. The same will happen in the western U.P.” That investment in the mining infrastructure is also an investment in the public infrastructure.

“It also leads the way for other industries to develop themselves as we have reliable power sources, good roads, all-season roads and transportation infrastructure.

“So, this is very positive news for the Upper Peninsula and helps us create a sustainable mining workforce, creates opportunities for the various skilled underground miners that we have.”

[This is the first article that examines the implications of the opening of the Copperwood Mine, in Gogebic County.]