News Archive

Lots of changes are happening here at LIAA, so we've been doing some spring cleaning. You can clean up, too, with some great deals on our former classroom computer desks and some computer gear. Pictured here is one of the desks, which have 8' x 3' tops. We also have several older computers that are still in great shape and would work great for basic tasks.  Finally, there are some monitors and other peripherals that deserve a look.

Download the complete list of what we have available here.

In the manner of good old fashioned Stone Soup (but more tasty!), the Empty Bowls Committee is stirring up a day of fun, community spirit and goodwill for this year's fundraising event.

Please join us on April 27, 2008, from 11-2 at the Park Place Dome in Traverse City, as volunteers, artists and community members come together to raise funds to fight hunger in 5 northern Michigan counties during the Fresh Food Partnership's sixth annual Empty Bowls event. The Empty Bowls event offers a marvelous array of Traverse City's best soup and bread, musical entertainment, locally made pottery bowls and wooden vessels.

Tickets for Empty Bowls are $15.00 per person and may be purchased at the door. Please click here for more information on Fresh Food Partnerships and this event.

Numbers of committees, volunteers, sponsors and restaurant donors have worked together to make Empty Bowls happen. Special thanks go to event planners, Judy Reinhardt, Dan Lisuk, Krystal Miller, Maureen Voss, Joe VanderMeulen, Bronwyn Jones and the much missed, Laura Otwell, for their early efforts in organizing this event. Also, a hearty pat on the back goes to artcenter of Traverse City for helping to battle hunger while supporting local artists.

We seek an experienced Program Director with strong leadership and strategic thinking skills to help move LIAA to the next level. The Program Director will lead our development and communications programs and participate in the design, development and management of new programs to help people build more sustainable communities.

We provide a reasonable salary (salary range: $45-55K), excellent benefits, great colleagues, a comfortable work environment, and a cause worth working for. All of this in one of the most beautiful locations on earth.

We prefer a creative and engaging person with at least 5 years of experience in nonprofit work, truly excellent communication skills, a relevant graduate degree (e.g., natural resources, community development, urban planning) and

experience with computer technologies.

Interested? Find out more here.

We are happy to announce that the Partnerships for Change (PfC) Sustainable Communities Program is now seeking proposals for multi-jurisdictional cooperative planning and program-building projects from partnerships composed of two or more cities, townships and villages.

Administered by the Land Information Access Association (LIAA) and sponsored by Michigan Townships Association, Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Association of Planning, and Michigan State University Extension, the PfC Program has already helped municipalities in over a dozen communities plan together. By providing professional planning and technical support services, the PfC Sustainable Communities Program will continue to help municipalities working together to support economic development with the preservation of their cultural and natural resources.

PfC Sustainable Communities is offering three levels of project assistance. First-Steps Service Grants will focus on the needs of local governments just beginning to consider inter-jurisdictional cooperation in land use planning.  The second two levels, Small and Large-Scale Service Grants, will help municipal partnerships succeed in creating new community-wide land use policies or programs. 

Any combination of cities, villages and townships are welcome to apply.  For more information on the program and application procedures, please visit http://www.partnershipsforchange.cc/.  Service grants valued at more than $60,000 are available to selected communities. Applications are due April 30, 2008.

Fresh Food Partnership is supported by gifts and grants from people like you as well as a few local charities. This year, we were able to purchase and deliver well over 50,000 pounds of fresh produce valued at over $24,000 to people in need through area food pantries. The Fresh Food Partnership estimates that over 3,400 families received nutritious fresh food to help them through some very difficult times.

We hope you will consider giving the Fresh Food Partnership your support. For example, a tax-deductible gift of $250 will assure that 25 families receive emergency supplies of nutritious fruits and vegetables from local farms.

Visit the Fresh Food Partnership link on the right to learn more about this program and how you can help make a difference.

LIAA organized a series of seminars held across the state in June 2007. The seminars offered information and training in the use of tools and techniques for Inter-jurisdictional Diplomacy.

We are pleased to offer a full-length video of the Inter-Jurisdictional Diplomacy Seminar as presented in Traverse City. To order your own copy of the 2-hour video on DVD, visit Partnerships for Change.

Our National Geography Awareness Week Free Lecture Series was attended by over 100 participants.  Attendees enjoyed a variety of topics including:

• (Re)Building the National Map: Spatial Data for the 21^st Century
• The Weather Machine: How it Affects Michigan
• Landscapes of Schizophrenia - Life in Burma/Myanmar
• Asian Influences on American Cuisine
• Oil, Energy Consumption and Climate Change: Geography as Global Connections

Join us next year for the 2008 National Geography Week series.

Miss this year?

You can bring the world to you by visiting the Hands-On-Geography Store.  Hands-On-Geography offers the largest selection of globes in the Grand Traverse Region. Visit the link in the right column to learn more!