With the news that the state intends to close the Ojibway Correctional Facility, we understand why the community is fighting back as hard as it is to try and save the prison. People in our area know full well what it means to lose a government facility.

When K.I. Sawyer closed, it meant Marquette County lost more than 5,000 jobs and about 14,000 residents. At the time, K.I. Sawyer was among the four largest communities in the Upper Peninsula. Marquette County fought the good fight with “Operation Expand K.I. Sawyer” to try and sell the benefits that K.I. Sawyer offered to the Air Force. The effort put forth was recognized by the closure commission as being one of the strongest efforts to save an Air Force Base that they saw during that round of closures.

Despite the great effort made by the local community, the base still closed and the community had to deal with a significant economic impact. But Marquette County did survive and we continue to make strides in replacing some of the hits to the local economy.

We encourage Gogebic County to continue the good fight to try and get the state to weigh the economic impact that the closure will have on the area. We also encourage Gogebic County to put together a task force to make plans to survive in case the closure does actually take place. You can’t put all your eggs in one basket, assuming that the closure won’t actually take place.

The Marquette County Board passed a resolution in support of the Ojibway Correction Facility at a recent meeting. We are glad that the county understands the impact that the closure would have on Gogebic County. One of the reasons the Upper Peninsula is so resilient is because “Yoopers” stick together. We are stronger with a collective voice than we are on our own.

We also believe if you asked any Marquette County commissioners who served during the closure of K.I. Sawyer how to be proactive following a closure notice, they would echo our comments on having a plan B to move forward if and when the correctional facility closes. There will be more than 200 workers displaced if the prison closes. That could be a great asset to companies that are having a hard time recruiting qualified, quality employees in their own areas. Most businesses and industries are currently having a hard time recruiting good employees and that is something that Gogebic County has to offer.

We don’t expect in the near future to get back economically to where we were when K.I. Sawyer was open, but Marquette County has found a way to capitalize on its strengths and make the best of a bad situation.

If push comes to shove, Gogebic County also will find a way to maneuver through this challenging time.