Carlin Smith’s Tour Of Petoskey

Sept. 23, 2016

It’s likely that nobody will correct you if you call Carlin Smith “Mr. Petoskey.” He’s lived in the town for almost thirty years and has served as Chamber President since 2003. Prior to that, he led Petoskey’s downtown. Dropping his kids at school in the morning, dining at a downtown eatery or in a meeting with business owners about what’s next, he’s surrounded by people who admire and revere his personality and accomplishments.

Northern Express caught up with him about what’s new, great, and challenging in Petoskey.

Express: What don’t people know about Petoskey who haven’t been there in a while?

Smith: There’s a lot beneath the surface that people don’t know or haven’t seen if they haven’t been here. People of course think of us as a tourism town, but there’s a manufacturing community that’s relevant and profitable, with several plants that have been here a long time, so that’s one thing. The other thing to understated is the hospital, McLaren of Northern Michigan. Regardless of how you feel about the politics of healthcare or hospitals, at the end of the day it’s our county’s largest employer, and not only that, but an employer of professional level positions, and they support our community in such a tremendous way. And another unique element you also get in Traverse City and Leelanau is what we call “resortism.” We use that term a lot here, and it’s different from tourism. A tourist will buy gas, stay at hotel, recreate…but resorters will do that but also use our health care, pay taxes, buy a car and groceries, and be philanthropic. Those resorters have second homes here, and that’s a huge part of our success here. They provide an insulator; if gas prices spike or the weather is lousy, tourism can suffer, but those resorters are already invested and are going to keep coming regardless.

Express: Is Petoskey facing the same challenges as Traverse City with regard to its recent growth mostly among wealthy retirees moving there?

Smith: Yes, it is a challenge. Great question. It’s of course great to have rich, retired people who invest and drive-up property values, but as that happens what happens to teachers, nurses and the general folks who live here and how can they afford homes? I know you’re seeing it in TC. Sarah Lucas [of Networks Northwest] calls it the “missing middle.” We need workforce housing.

Express: And any answers?

Smith: I don’t have a silver bullet. I can say it’s the subject of a conversation I just had at lunch with our executive committee, on Friday in Cadillac with the director of MSHDA, and several meetings in town to get our arms around the scope of the problem. There’s not a quick, easy fix, but it’s on a lot of radars.

Express: What about young families and young professionals? I know that’s something you’re working on.

Smith: You know, we’re discovering there are more young professionals here than we thought. It’s pretty vibrant. We need to find ways to find and engage them and keep them loving Petoskey and to stay and buy homes here. We just started doing that with Thrive 45, which plays off the 45th parallel and also the age range. We’re doing professional development, networking, and social events for that group. And I’ve been surprised. Again, there are more of those folks than we thought.

Express: We’re sometimes amazed at how infrequently people from Leelanau or Traverse City or Frankfort or Cadillac visit Petoskey. What would you say to those people?

Smith: I would say the food scene and emerging wine scene are reasons to visit. We’re not the Leelanau Peninsula yet, but we have an emerging viticulture economy and it’s exciting. Our food is good here as well, and we’re catching up to Traverse City in that respect; we have a really good restaurant scene. And of course we offer a lot of what other communities do, like the beautiful views, scenery, places to hike. And then if somebody is maybe wanting to move, it goes much deeper: our quality of health care, great schools, our downtown.

Express: We used to hear that people in Petoskey would say they “didn’t want to grow up to be like Traverse City.” Is that sentiment still around?

Smith: Great question. I look at TC with a little envy. I like its downtown and waterfront, and

I look longingly at some of the cool things there. But I think controlling growth is the issue. As a Chamber, you want growth to happen, but how do you control it so you grow on the community’s terms and it’s comfortable to handle? That’s what people are referring to. It’s more about sprawl. And our leadership has done a nice job so far. We believe it’s OK to have a Meijer and WalMart; people need things from those businesses. It’s a quality of life thing to have them here. But you want to control it at a place where there’s a balance.

Express: You embody the town. Many people think of you when they think of Petoskey and even join or stay with the Chamber just because you’re there. What do you think when you hear that?

Smith: I’m a little surprised, but I feel good. I love Petoskey. It was love at first sight, and I just have continued to loved living here, having my kids at the schools, raising my family here, enjoying the parks… it fits my lifestyle. And we have such a good, strong, engaged population and so to hear you say that I might say I’m a bit of a cheerleader, but to hear that makes me feel good. And I have no intentions to go anywhere. As long as my board and membership will have me, I love the job and I don’t want to leave!