Representing 29% of Michigan’s land mass and more than 300,000 residents who live and work in the Upper Peninsula, the request is being made of the professional networking site, LinkedIn, to recognize the U.P. as its own region.
The current structure of LinkedIn assigns Upper Peninsula residents and businesses to one of four regions based on their geographic proximity; these include Duluth, MN, Wausau, WI, Green Bay, WI, and Saginaw, MI. In other words, none of the 10,290 businesses or their employees located in the Upper Peninsula are actually assigned to the Upper Peninsula. Therefore, companies and people who want to network through sort or search functions are unable to maximize some of LinkedIn’s primary tools.
“I have had business contacts mention they were unsure if they had found me on LinkedIn when conducting a search because it assigns my region as Green Bay, Wisconsin even though I have Marquette, MI listed as my location,” shared James Larsen, CEO of UPPCO. Adding “it can really throw people off when the wrong area is listed, much less the wrong state. Establishing our own LinkedIn region would not only improve functionality, but more accurately represent our area’s true identity.”
With a long running list of examples that often overlook the Upper Peninsula or inaccurately assign it geographically to Wisconsin or Canada, the issue of proper recognition and representation is a cause that is also a passion of U.P. residents. Therefore, given that September 6 (9-06) is also known and recognized by U.P. residents as the unofficial holiday known as 906 Day (906 not only represents a day on the calendar, but the telephone area code for the entire peninsula). To further a more accurate understanding of the area and that the U.P. means business. The Upper Peninsula economic development community also saw it fit to embrace this day as a celebration to highlight the economic opportunities of the U.P.; working to engage their respective communities to support this initiative.
Those engaged in social media on LinkedIn as well as other platforms will likely see heightened engagement and activity on September 6 noting the request to recognize the 906 as its own business region and link the U.P. The hope is that LinkedIn will join so many other companies and realize that the Upper Peninsula means business as it is a great place to live, work, and play.
