Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By JAN TUCKER
White Pine — Jobs could be returning to White Pine in the near future. A June 4 hearing to be held in Ontonagon could be the answer.
The hearing is a request by PM Power and the White Pine Refinery for a $490,000 loan from the Community Development Block Grant program. According to Zack Halkola, PM Power Group Chief Operating Officer, the refinery process would recycle 3 million pounds of cathode annually and return 15 jobs to White Pine.
The requested funds are part of the Revolving Loan fund that Ontonagon County turned over to the state and managed by Northern Initiatives in Marquette.
If approved, the funds would come full circle. Originally, the funds came from the state to Ontonagon County in the 1980s when the negotiations were on for the sale of the White Pine Mine as a part employee owned and part privately owned operation. The fear was the White Pine Copper Company would pull the pumps and the mine would be flooded, ending the hopes of reopening the mine. The Ontonagon County EDC loaned the money to the mine and was later paid back. The paid back funds to the EDC since that time have been used for revolving funds for economic development. Through the years the funds were loaned to new or expanded businesses, some which were successful and some which failed. The most recent such loan was for the Two Loons Restaurant in Silver City.
The state later required the Ontonagon Revolving funds be consolidated with revolving funds from other counties. They have been managed by Northern Initiatives and a board with representatives from the counties and other designated representatives. That board receives the requests for loans. Ontonagon’s portion of the fund has grown to about $600,000. The repaid loans however, now return to the central pot instead of the individual counties to be used for economic development.
The hearing on the request for $490,000 economic funds by the Power Group and the refinery is at 10 a.m. on June 4 at the Ontonagon Courthouse.
