The Chicago of the North?

“We were in our heyday in the early 1900s. There were some who thought that we were on our way to becoming the ‘Chicago of the North’. Lumber, grain and iron ore were all booming back then,” Charlie Glazman told me on our drive throughout picturesque NW WI. It obviously didn’t happen as Superior’s population of 27,368 doesn’t even put it in the top 10 population centers in the state, today only one third the population that the town achieved early in the last century. Many old resource based industries that thrived in Superior have played out and information centric ones have located in other places. Tourism is today the main play for towns like Superior.

Superior is trying, recently initiating a joint ED effort with sister city Duluth. Reaching across county lines can be very difficult, but doing one across a state line really catches my attention. Too often we get caught up by natural boundaries or 1800s surveyor’s decisions. Reaching out on a regional basis like Superior is doing, is a big plus.

Charlie told me of how the region was able to work together to get the 155 miles of Route 53 from Superior to Eau Claire developed into a four lane highway, “We started Superior Days, a lobbying day down at the state capital, about 20 years ago. We meet with every legislator and most department heads. At the time we were told by the head of the Department of Transportation, ‘You’ll get four lanes over my dead body.’ We felt that most legislators thought that the state border stopped at Eau Claire.”

The group didn’t give up and four years ago inaugurated the completed four lanes. “The head of our Chamber wanted to bring a casket to the inauguration, but cooler heads prevailed.” Today other regions of the state have copied Superior Days, developing a game plan for pushing their critical projects.

Superior is hosting their third annual Dragon Boat Races later this summer. My wife and I attended a similar competition several years ago and had a wonderful time. Superior’s brings in 100 teams from all over the world and raised in excess of $100,000 for local charities. There is talk of making Dragon Boat Racing an Olympic event.