The Community Foundation of St. Clair County has refined its Strategic Focus Areas along the primary commercial corridor of the County, that generally mirrors the path of the Bridge to Bay Trail network which stretches from Algonac up to Lakeport.

“We’ve always had some degree of focus on the main commercial corridor of our region,” said Randy Maiers, the Foundation’s President & CEO. “However within the new focus areas that will guide our work through the end of 2027, we intend to be much more intentional about seeking out larger, more impactful projects which support placemaking and economic development.”

Included within the new strategic priorities will be an emphasis on:

• Supporting larger “anchor projects”
• Placemaking projects
• Bridge to Bay Trail gaps
• Blue Water River Walk enhancements

The focus on Anchor Projects will be led by the new Mission Related Investments Committee (MRI). This work will in part be supported through significant grant funding from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, which has supported the Foundation’s work for several years.

The new committee will be led by Steve Schweihofer as Chair, and Korissa Kramer as Vice Chair. Schweihofer is the former CFO for Foster Blue Water Oil, and Kramer is a Partner & Associate Broker at Kramer Realty.

“We’ve done quite a bit of funding, lending and financing over the years,” said Schweihofer. “But now we intend to be much more formal and have a process with more structure in our review of projects and in decision-making. But this is not grantmaking,” he added. 

Schweihofer said the Community Foundation will not lead or drive any new anchor projects along the corridor. Rather, the new Mission Related Investing Committee will be open to consider investing in larger projects which combine multiple and diverse aspects of economic development in our downtowns. 

Over the last decade the Foundation has used its finances to support a range of similar economic development projects, such as:

• Wrigley Center housing development
• Marine City Marina
• Riverview Plaza Courtyard in St. Clair
• McMorran Plaza
• Boardwalk Theater in St. Clair
• Knowlton Museum
• Inn on Water Street
• Eddy Center – formerly Eddy Elementary

“These will be projects which serve as anchors in their neighborhood or community, and which attract visitor spending on evenings and weekends,” Schweihofer said. “And most importantly, these projects must be profitable so that we get both a return on our investment along with a positive community return.”

“Taking some of our investments out of Wall Street and putting them into our own local Mainstreet, is known by a variety of terms including Mission Related Investing or Impact Investing,” added Maiers. “We’re still looking for a positive investment return from our money, but we also look for and expect a level of community impact and return.” These types of local investments by placed-based foundations are a growing area of philanthropy.

Apart from seeking new investment opportunities along the Bridge to Bay Trail Corridor, the Foundation also plans some much-needed enhancements to the Blue Water River Walk, which last year celebrated its 10^th anniversary.

“We’ll need some help from our donors,” Randy Maiers said. “Because we’ve had a few larger items on our wish list for a while now and want to make some significant progress this year.” The new projects and upgrades to the River Walk include:

• Adding a new fully accessible trail spur to the southern ferry dock along with a complete rehabilitation and upgrade to the deck, railing and lighting of the southern ferry dock.   This project has a budget of $325,000 with about $125,000 raised to date
• New lighting and security cameras along the northern section of the trail at a cost of $50,000
• New public art at a cost of $10,000

The Foundation also plans to pull back from direct small business lending. “We’re not eliminating it altogether,” said Maiers, “But we will be doing less of it.”

In 2025 the Community Foundation will complete renovations to the courtyard space it shares with Michigan Mutual in downtown Port Huron. That project includes a major renovation to the façade of the Foundation’s offices. 

These new focus areas will complement the Foundation’s annual grantmaking and scholarship work which totaled about $3.6 million in 2024. “At the end of the day we’re still focused on our regular business of connecting donors with opportunities to make an impact in their community,” Maiers said. “That’s our core work and is what really helps us drive community and economic growth in St. Clair County.”

Interested in making an impact on your community’s commercial corridor? Contact Randy Maiers, President & CEO, at [email protected] or Natacha Hayden, Program Officer for Community Impact, at [email protected] or 810-984-4761.