Beginning Tuesday, hundreds of the state’s top business leaders and lawmakers will take to Mackinac Island.
It is the annual Detroit Regional Chamber’s Mackinac Policy Conference and has grown into an event unrivaled in the Midwest. They’ve been coming to the Island for more than four decades.
“This is considered Michigan’s main stage, if you will, for all issues,” said Tammy Carnrike, the Chief Operating Officer for the Chamber.
The Mackinac Policy Conference is a staple where the biggest names in business and politics collide. But it hasn’t always been that way.
“From 1904 to 1980, the conference was actually a cruise,” said Carnrike.
More than one hundred years ago, the chamber would take trains to the coast and set sail for their meetings. Just 150 people took part back then, a tenth of what it is now.
“1,500. We used to be 1,800 but then after COVID, we cut it back for health and safety purposes,” said Carnrike.
In 1981, they chose Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel and never looked back. It brought the conference to land but still had the tight, controlled environment they sought to meet.
“There are all these discussions about business and politics and the economy and how do we do things to move our state forward,” said Carnrike.
This isn’t a lobbyist day in Lansing, it’s a week-long event where almost everyone is accessible.
“They can catch anybody on the porch at any time,” said Carnrike. “And have a really great discussion.”
As the conference has grown, so has the guest list. It is stretching well past Michigan’s borders.
“We’ve had Donna Brazile, we’ve had John Boehner, we’ve had Mike Rowe,” said Carnrike. “This year we have Mike Tirico. We’ve had Fareed Zakaria. We bring in all these national level speakers.”
The Chamber has agendas and reports from those early years and the main issues remain similar, just the technology to attack them has changed.
“I think it just shows that those are our main issues that are always going to need attention,” said Carnrike. “Now, infrastructure and transportation are very, very important.”
The conference brings with it focus and seclusion which makes it productive. That impact makes it probable to stay on the island for the foreseeable future.
“It’s gorgeous, it’s historical,” said Carnrike. “We keep them busy all the time and if we did that anywhere else you would know it would be very easy for them to leave, go to their office and take a couple meetings.”
