Return North: Finding a way back home

They grew up in the U.P., or went to school here, or it was their favorite place to vacation. They’d love to live here. But they thought there weren’t any good career opportunities.

The Michigan Tech Enterprise Corporation (MTEC) SmartZone is working to prove them wrong and bring them back to stay, through an online career fair and website called Return North.

“There is an incredible amount of talent deeply connected to the Upper Peninsula,” says Jason Mack, who is vice president of Business Development at MTEC SmartZone. “This Return North career event isn’t about just filling jobs; it’s about reconnecting people with a place they love and showing them they can build a life here.” 

Past career fairs have attracted a wide variety of industries, including engineering, technology, cybersecurity, insurance and risk management, health and human services, higher education, law enforcement and manufacturing, Mack pointed out. “We hope, with fees waived for employers this year, we will have an even wider variety of participants.” 

Xeratec, a software development company in Hancock, has participated in the Return North career fair almost every year since it began. 

“We participate because there are many people who really want to live up here,” says Brett Hillstrom, president of Xeratec. “I think it’s important to have visibility into what opportunities are present in the area. Not everybody is a fan of remote work, and if they can have high tech opportunities locally and we can find talented people that want to be local, it’s a win-win situation.” 

Xeratec has hired a software engineer through Return North. 

This year, the MTEC SmartZone is partnering with Upper Peninsula Michigan Works! to sponsor the virtual career fair on November 13. Michigan Works! is an agency that helps drive economic growth in the U.P. by providing a variety of programs and services to local businesses, employees and job seekers. 

“Return North is about making it easier for people with roots in the U.P. to come back and thrive,” says Tom Autio, communications manager at U.P. Michigan Work!. “We hope this event brings families closer and allows working professionals to live in a place they hold so close to their heart.”

He got a job during a hunting trip

Luke Comstock was a participant in a previous online Return North career fair. 

Working in Grand Rapids at the time, he had been searching for a way to live and work in the U.P. When he heard about the online event during a hunting trip, Comstock drove from his camp to the nearest town, found a parking lot with a hotspot connection, opened his laptop in his car and talked with potential employers.

He drove back to his camp with two separate job offers. Comstock accepted a position with GS Engineering and relocated his family to Houghton, fulfilling their dream. 

“I accomplished more in an hour, in a parking lot than I had for a month sitting in front of my computer trying to do online job searching,” he says.

Online registration for the Return North career fair is open now for both job seekers and employers at www.return-north.com. 

Return North is an MTEC SmartZone initiative that began 2017 as a career fair that went from in-person to virtual when COVID made face-to-face events inadvisable. When COVID restrictions eased, it remained virtual, enabling people who couldn’t travel to Houghton for the event to participate. 

Return North goes year-round

This year, the SmartZone has added a Return North website, so job seekers can connect with U.P. employers year-round.

The new website offers a variety of resources, including a Facebook group to connect with other job seekers and employers and learn about networking and career development events.  It also includes job postings and a “Living in the U.P.” page, designed to introduce the area to those unfamiliar with it.    

Living in the U.P. describes the unique things to see and do in the Upper Peninsula, such as exploring Copper Harbor, visiting iconic Brockway Mountain Drive for panoramic views of Lake Superior and circling eagles  and going mountain biking on world-class trail, touring historic copper mines, hiking in the pristine wilderness of Isle Royale, viewing the Northern Lights or stargazing in some of the clearest skies in the country, swimming or kayaking in the cold, clear waters of Lake Superior or Lake Michigan and strolling the car-free streets of Mackinac Island.

The website also touts the more than 250 miles of trails, a crime rate 42 percent below the national average and a 17-minute average commute time. It notes the existence of professional development and networking groups such as the Keweenaw Young Professionals, a networking and social group dedicated to fostering connections, personal growth and community involvement among young professionals of the Keweenaw Peninsula, and the Keweenaw Remote Workforce, a portal for those seeking remote work and a networking community for remote workers.

“By transitioning to a year-round recruitment model, we’re making it even easier for employers to find the right talent and for job seekers to take the next step in their careers—no matter when the timing is right for them,” says Mack. “It’s a win-win for everyone.” 

Allison Szlachta, communications manager at the MTEC SmartZone, explains that the goal of Return North is to connect job seekers with employment opportunities in the U.P. 

“Maybe they went to school here; maybe they have family here, or they vacationed here and loved the area,” she says. “We saw a need to let people who wanted to come back to the area know about the job opportunities here, such as students who recently graduated from Michigan Tech or Northern Michigan University or Lake Superior State, or any of the colleges in the Upper Peninsula, who couldn’t find a job here right after graduating. We also want to reach others who are interested in living here full time, but brushed it off, saying, ‘It’s just a vacation spot,” or “I have my job downstate,’ thinking that there’s not much opportunity up here.”

She adds, “Our purpose is to target those people and draw them back to the U.P. to establish their careers here in this part of the state.”