Senator Stabenow Receives Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award From Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance

Stabenow Receives Award for her Leadership on Improving Lives in Northern Michigan

Friday, January 19, 2024

TRAVERSE CITY, MI — U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) received the inaugural Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance Legacy Award for her leadership and transformative work supporting small businesses, farmers, and the local economy in Northern Michigan. The Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance presented the award at the 6th annual Northern Michigan Policy Conference in Traverse City.

“It’s my honor to receive this award from an organization that’s laser-focused on strengthening Northern Michigan’s businesses, communities, and future. I am a proud native of Clare, “The Gateway to the North,” and I know first-hand how important this region is to our state. I’ve always fought to bring resources and investments to Northern Michigan, and I’ll continue my work to keep this area a great place to work, start a business, and raise a family. Thank you for this incredible honor,” said Senator Stabenow.

“The Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance has greatly appreciated Senator Stabenow’s leadership and long-standing partnership since the earliest days of her first term,” said Nikki Devitt, Chair of the Alliance and President of the Petoskey Regional Chamber of Commerce. “As Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Senator Stabenow’s advocacy for Northern Michigan’s farmers and food industry has been invaluable, in addition to her longtime support for infrastructure and education projects that have received funding throughout her time in the United States Senate.”

Senator Stabenow has long been a champion of Northern Michigan and spent her career protecting our state’s Great Lakes, supporting small businesses, and growing the agriculture industry in Michigan.

In 2010, Stabenow authored the bipartisan Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a flagship public-private program that has been a major success story. As the most significant investment ever made to restore and protect our Great Lakes, the initiative has provided more than $3.7 billion for more than 7,500 projects to protect the Great Lakes and its waterways against its greatest threats, and address problems that directly impact public health and safety. Stabenow also worked with Senator Carl Levin to preserve 32,000 acres at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as wilderness.

As Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, Senator Stabenow is a strong voice on behalf of farmers in Northern Michigan and across the country. In 2008, Stabenow created the first specialty crop title in Farm Bill history to address the needs of Michigan’s fruit and vegetable producers. Stabenow created the Regional Conservation Partnership Program in the 2014 Farm Bill to form locally led partnerships between agriculture and conservation groups to preserve land and water, improve hunting and fishing, and protect the Great Lakes.

Throughout the years, Senator Stabenow has also secured important investments in affordable housing, expanding broadband access, and business loans.

###